Nope – absolutely not. I already gave my gut call to friends a couple of weeks ago. Just haven’t had time to
write much this time around. And also, truth be told – its a very tough call this year. The teams are much better balanced – most have figured out what works and the experience of the last two years is showing.
Nevertheless – I’ll go out on a limb. In no particular order.,
1. Delhi Daredevils: Despite the recent losses, the batting is so strong that they have the firepower to win any game. And unlike last year they aren't peaking early.
2. Bangalore Royal Challengers: The most balanced team – even without Ross Taylor,KP & White still to come. Solid batting, the worlds fastest bowlers (pace and spin)& an enthusiastic youth brigade.
3. Mumbai Indians: I am warming up to my home team. Tendulkar looks very determined to get them there this year. Bowling was always strong but the X factor West Indians along with Duminy (who will play at some stage) will see them through. I just think they should drop Jayasuriya post haste – maybe he’ll prove me wrong but he’s past his sell-by-date.
4. Kolkata Knight Riders: Probably the most controversial of the lot. Somehow my instinct is that Dada will do his damndest to end his career on a high. An inconsistent start notwithstanding; once Gayle & McCullum join they will combine with Hodge, Matthews to provide the firepower & Bond , Kartik & Co are not pushovers.
Probably the least likely of any predictions but i did say I’d stick my neck out.
What about the rest?
Well it is the tightest IPL ever. (i) Deccan is in great touch but i think ‘age’ will creep up (Gilchrist, Symonds, Gibbs, Vaaz, Laxman could prove me wrong but its an ‘old’ team). (ii) Chennai: always a strong team. They’ll miss Dhoni for a bit & beyond Hayden i don't see much of the ‘X’ factor. Plus, i am not as inspired by their bowling.(iii) Punjab: This could be the dark horse despite the worst start. They have the balance (banish Sreesanth instantly though) & i do want to see more of Preity Zinta so it will be great if they can scrape through. I fear that they may have too much to do at the end esp, if they lose to Chennai tomorrow. (iv)Finally, the Rajasthan Royals. I still have a very soft spot for this motley crew but somehow it cant always be Yusuf vs the opponents. Some bad luck with injuries, some ugly selection decisions but overall they’ll continue to conjure magical wins - just not enough.
4 comments:
Finally you are seeing the light on Mumbai, bro!
On the rest, the easy one (for now and i could be proved horribly wrong) are Bangalore, who seem to have hit upon some sort of formula (to the extent one can in this game).
I would also pick Deccan,who i think have enough of the x factor u talk about...even though old...a combination of Gilchrist, Symonds, Gibbs, Vaas (who has the ugly purple cap currently) will be tough to beat. Their weakness is bowling...dont really have anyone of note beyond Vaas and Symonds. Kemar Roach will come but they will need to drop someone to play him. Rohit Sharma as alaways will be important
So that gets me to the hotly contested final slot...i have 2 candidates for this...(a) Chennai. The Midas man i think is not to be written off yet, injured though he is (b) this is a left field choice ...Kings XI. They need 2 things to happen...Yuvraj getting into the zone and finding someone to replace Jaywardene...both sanga and he are so woefully out of it..
i am going to stick my neck out on this one and say Kings make it
It’s a close contest for sure – Chennai and Deccan are obviously close but I think they will give.
I think Punjab got a ‘life’ today but if they had lost (as they should have) it would have been curtains. I think they need to win 3 on the trot for them to have any hope. Delhi will come back – I mean Dilshan and AB have to fire at some stage ???
Since Mumbai dropped Jayasuriya today , I am happy
I also noticed that you didn’t deign to dignify my KKR prediction with any response
KKR are very important to this tournament. Its just so much fun when they play - 155/3?? how do you get there? As entertaining as they are, they will not be in the semis.
On my Punjab pick. I chose them on a punt, the classic 'left field' call. To lend some strength though it now seems Lee & Marsh are back or coming soon (i hadnt factored that in). Marsh is Jaya's replacement (i hope) and they need Lee anyways.
Delhi is a bizarre one. But you now have an injured Gambhir (who will come back no doubt) and Dilshan is benched. I think the favorites tag is not serving them well and teams now believe they can be beaten (last year there was a bit of awe around the Sehwag-Gambhir-Dilshan-AB foursome)
Like i said, there goes Punjab & here comes Rajastan with their once in a way magic. Shaun Marsh and Brett Lee can give them a fillip but again ; too much left to do. On the other hand if Rajasthan do get Watson and Jadeja for the back half of the tournament they could scare a few teams....
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