Well, the competition is getting more than immense – probably greater than the wild imagination power of the South Africans also। To see such highly competitive nature of a domestic tournament can be sometimes odd and unthinkable to most of the world, of course except India, where the game is given the status of probably next to God!!! The attitude and passion of the cricketers, not only Indians but also the foreign recruits, was that they are not at all willing to leave one inch of land to their opponents – probably not to the man who captain him at international level. To see Fidel Edwards hurling a delivery at over 140 km/hr to his captain Chris Gayle’s ribs was heart warming. It also makes your day when you see Sanath Jayasuriya rattle the mystery spinner from his own country itself – Ajantha Mendis. This uniqueness and unexpected things are the USP of the big brand – Indian Premier League.
Now, everyone is concerned about making an eleven which would destroy any attack based on the performances of the players in the competition so far। These sorts of ideas always attract me as I always did that after every World Cup – no matter whether it is a Soccer or Cricket WC. We are at the middle of IPL 2 and this gives me a chance to discuss my eleven errrrr….twelve… with all of you net savvy people. First of all, take into consideration that this team is based on the performances of players till May first and also depending upon the nature of the pitches which is assisting the spinners a great deal.
Therefore my team will consist of players named:
Mathew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar [c], Suresh Raina, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Yusuf Pathan, Adam Gilcrist [wk & vc], Irfan Pathan, Daniel Vettori, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Abdulla, Lasith Malinga and JP Duminy [12th man]।
Some of the players gave me a real headache in order to choose the twelve। But considering the format of the game and nature of the pitches, I think this can probably has the greatest potential to beat the best in the business. For the openers’ slot, Herschelle Gibbs and Chris Gayle were also deserving contenders. But Sachin’s ability to play according to situations and Hayden’s consistency scored over the two left outs. AB de Villiers and Kumara Sangakara seriously challenged the deeds of Dilshan and Raina. However, Sangakara’s lack of ability to change gear while batting second so far in the tournament and South Africa’s blue eyed boy – AB’s not so good show after his mesmerizing century betrayed them. Yusuf Pathan and Adam Gilcrist were obvious choices because of their thrilling and destructive endeavors in every match they played. Yuvraj Singh though came close to Yusuf Pathan but misses out on consistency and generating the famous fear factor among opponents that Yusuf easily create.
Among the all-rounder, their were not many to challenge the younger of the Pathan brothers and his lusty hitting with the bat, no matter in which number he comes in, made the decision an easy one at the end। The pitches are exploited best by spinners so far as they are on the slower side. Therefore, in my team, there has to be two spinners. Daniel Vettori did live up to his reputation of being the most successful spinner in the shortest version of the game and nobody can doubt his batting ability as he posses three test centuries. Pragyan Ojha is probably the most improved bowler in this competition and such was his charisma the he beat some of the greats of the game like Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Muthaiya Muralidharan and Harbhajan Singh to grab that place. It was also pity that talents such as Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla miss the list. In the pace department, there were also quite a few challengers like Fidel Edwards, RP Singh, Dirk Nannes, Zaheer Khan, Kamran Khan and Lakshmipathy Balaji for two berths. But at the end, Lasith Malinga and Yusuf Abdulla stole the honors. In my opinion, Malinga’s daring efforts at the end of the innings and Yusuf Abdulla’s wicket taking ability at any point of the game raced them ahead of others. JP Duminy’s all-round skills in batting, spinning the bowl and fielding earned him the 12th man’s cap.
I hope the team would perform well and does not get a coach like John Buchanan to destroy all its potential!!! There are also some who disappointed every one in this tournament so far। I take this opportunity to draft an eleven as “Most Awful Players of IPL 2”:
Brendon McCullum [c & wk], Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Kevin Pietersen [vc], Ross Taylor, Andrew Flintoff, Albie Morkel, Dale Steyn, Manpreet Gony, Ajit Agarkar, Ajantha Mendis and Jesse Ryder [12th man]. Some of the players like VVS Laxman, Graeme Smith, Joginder Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Swapnil Asnodkar and Shikhar Dhawan missed the list narrowly! Hope they don’t to include in that list also… John Buchanan will coach the team with all his support stuff which would be longer than the number of the players in the team!!! And Shah-Rukh Khan will take all the credits of the results of the team as the sole owner of the team. Thank You…
Friday, May 1, 2009
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