Dire straits – facing the music

I just got home from watching Mark Knopfler play at the Paramount theatre in Oakland. Wonderful performance , great talent and excellent instrument players – but somehow didn’t fully feel like Dire Straits. Because its not the old team with the full on magic (he didn’t play Money for Nothing, Walk of Life though he did end with Sultans of Swing).

Somewhat relatedly, most of the IPL teams are in Dire Straits and one of the reasons is that they are still struggling to get the ‘right team’ and the magic. And also because the Sultans of swing havent really fired consistently (Think Brett Lee, Bond, Steyn, Balaji, Dwayne Smith, Nehra/Nannes(injury), Tait, Munaf). The only team where they have is in the semis (Zak, Malinga).
But more on that later, for now the team composition.
Its a shame that after 12 games the teams haven’t figured out what their best combination is and are still somewhat guessing. I’ll focus on the batting in this post but i think the struggle is true in bowling as well as in the foreign player quota. The teams just havent got it right and 12 games later it might be too late.
Batting: Some of the key teams with challenges

a. Even Mumbai is not fully sure of their lineup (Jayasuriya, Rayadu, Dhawan opening?) – luckily they at least have got Duminy a confirmed spot now.

b. Delhi is under pressure & may make some wild changes at the last minute (Dilshan?) and will make the semi finals (if that) with an unsettled team

c. Kolkata: McCullum hasnt fired, Hodge has been in the wings for ever, Tiwary’s position in lineup is fluctuating & David Hussey hasnt made an impact while Matthew’s can claim some success – so more experimentation on the cards i think in the last 2 games.

d. Chennai are probably closest to getting it right (Vijay and Raina in form, Dhoni and Hayden with the fear factor and Badrinath/Albie to provide some tail end relief) . Deccan seem to be getting there but not before they made a mess of Laxman’s image & Gilchrist really needs to fire. Good news is though that they  know the role for Symonds, Sharma and Suman. Punjab are  probably started getting it right with Jayawardene at the top but doesn’t really matter. Neither does the Royals because Warne mixes it up all the time anyway.

e. The biggest headache is for Bangalore and its a problem of plenty. Kallis, Dravid, Uthapa, Kohli, Taylor, KP, White, Pandey?? To me its been clear – open with Uthapa or Taylor & use Dravid as the floater to come in when Kallis falls & Kohli when Dravid falls. That way you always have a steady stream of stability and creativity through the innings. I am neutral to KP or White but still think they should have tried Roelof (but its too late now). Kumble may be forced to remove Kallis – bad move.

Any team that doesn’t enter the semis with a settled look of ‘team magic’ will find themselves in Dire straits & will certainly realize that (Prize) Money for nothing is not part of their Walk of Life.