IPL 2011

After three seasons that saw three different champions (Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural edition, Deccan Chargers in 2009, and Chennai Super Kings last year), the IPL resumes with the 2011 avatar almost like a new league. With the three-year contract ending after the third edition, franchises could opt to retain key player(s) and bid for those who were available for auction. This resulted in hectic bidding, with several big-name players either moving to other pastures or entering the event for the first time (or worse still, in the case of Saurav Ganguly, being outright ignored).

Also, with the addition of two new teams (Sahara Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the official monikers of these two), the format has been slightly modified, with the each team playing five matches home-and-away and two matches apiece at home and away with the remaining four teams. In other words, the fixture distribution looks like this:

Sahara Pune Warriors

Home-and-away: DD, DC, KXIP, MI, CSK

Home: Kochi, KKR

Away: RCB, RR

Delhi Daredevils

Home-and-away: DC, KXIP, MI, Pune, Kochi

Home: KKR, RCB

Away: RR, CSK

Deccan Chargers

Home-and-away: KXIP, MI, Pune, DD, KKR

Home: RCB, RR

Away: CSK, Kochi

Kings XI Punjab

Home-and-away: MI, Pune, DD, DC, RCB

Home: RR, CSK

Away: Kochi, KKR

Mumbai Indians

Home-and-away: Pune, DD, DC, KXIP, RR

Home: CSK, Kochi

Away: KKR, RCB

Chennai Super Kings

Home-and-away: Kochi, KKR, RCB, RR, Pune

Home: DD, DC

Away: KXIP, MI

Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Home-and-away: KKR, RCB, RR, CSK, DD

Home: DC, KXIP

Away: MI, Pune

Kolkata Knight Riders

Home-and-away: RCB, RR, CSK, Kochi, DC

Home: KXIP, MI

Away: Pune, DD

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Home-and-away: RR, CSK, Kochi, KKR, KXIP

Home: MI, Pune

Away: DD, DC

Rajasthan Royals

Home-and-away: CSK, Kochi, KKR, RCB, MI

Home: Pune, DD

Away: DC, KXIP

I'm not sure how this can be considered a real league, but given the congested nature of international commitments, this is probably the best that could be done. For a detailed fixture list ("inspired" from the FIFA 2010 World Cup match tracker devised by Marca), click here.

In terms of players, frenetic would be an understatement. There were so many transfers and new entrants that it would be best to treat this as a all-new version and check out the squads afresh:

Chennai Super Kings

Deccan Chargers

Delhi Daredevils

Kings XI Punjab

Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Kolkata Knight Riders

Mumbai Indians

Pune Warriors

Rajasthan Royals

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Airtel Champions League T20 second edition

Admittedly a concept borrowed from its hallowed European football counterpart, Champions League's anthem has some oohing and aahing and also some lines like "Only the best, only champions". A bit misleading, considering that in the first edition, Delhi Daredevils were the table-toppers but not the eventual champions. And this year, the Deccan Chargers (in captain Gilchrist's own words) "saved their worst for the last" with spectacularly miserable performances in the semi-final and most dubiously, in the third place play-off against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, handing the Bangalore side a lucrative opportunity to play in the Champions League T20.

Be that as it may, a tournament which will see domestic sides from Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies (technically, the comprising nations which form the West Indies cricket team) has much to offer, not least, the clashes between those teams which will never get to play each other in any other tournament. In addition to this, it will also provide an interesting insight into whether an assembled squad (like the IPL teams) are better value for money or the teams that play the domestic tournaments for a longer period of time (South Australia, Chevrolet Warriors, Central Districts to name a few) are superior.

Due to the nature of qualification, few sides have players who could play for the domestic team as well as the franchise which bought them and thus, the franchise has had to compensate the domestic team for the services of the player(s) in question. Royal Challengers Bangalore had no other option but to pay Victorian Bushrangers, Chevrolet Warriors, and Central Districts $200,000 each for the services of Cameron White, Jacques Kallis, and Ross Taylor respectively. An expensive exercise, but given the massive prize money on offer (something around US$6 million), you can hardly blame them.

This is how the groups are set up:

Group A (the domestic league champions)

1. Central Districts Stags (New Zealand)
2. Wayamba Elevens (Sri Lanka)
3. Victorian Bushrangers (Australia)
4. Chevrolet Cape Warriors (South Africa)
5. Chennai Super Kings (India)

Group B (the runners-up or third place finishers)

1. Mumbai Indians (India)
2. Highveld Lions (South Africa)
3. South Australia Redbacks (Australia)
4. Royal Challengers Bangalore (India)
5. Guyana (West Indies)

Given the fact that there are only two groups, the number of matches will be significantly reduced when compared with the first edition. This is because the top two teams from each group will contest the semi-finals, following which will be the final. Also, there is no concept of home-and-away matches here, since each team plays the other only once in the group stage. It is also interesting to note that, for a variety of reasons, there are no teams from Bangladesh (no domestic T20 tournament), England (conflicts over scheduling), Pakistan (the PCB chose not to send representatives in response to snubbing of Pakistan players in the auction preceding IPL season 3) and Zimbabwe (international regulations and lack of relations with few national boards). In fact, this was the reason why the format of the tournament changed in the second edition.

On paper, there are a couple of teams that look like going all the way: Victoria and Bangalore. While Victoria who have won the domestic KFC Big Bash four times in the last five years boast of genuine home-bred match-winners in stand-in captain David Hussey (original captain Cameron White will turn out for Bangalore), T20's premier batsman Brad Hodge and the deceptively quick Dirk Nannes, Bangalore are endowed with an embarrassment of riches in the batting and bowling departments, with seasoned veterans like Kallis, Kumble, and Dravid complementing young tyros Taylor, Kohli, and Steyn among others. However, T20 is a fickle-format and who dares on that day over a duration of 40 overs wins.

Why the IPL needs to rethink on the format

Eight teams, fifty-six league matches and three knockouts are the order of the first three IPL editions. Come 2011, the number of teams will be ten and the fixtures will correspondingly increase to a staggering ninety-three.

The big news over the weekend was the announcement of two new franchises (for an avid football fan, verbalization of franchise instead of club is a rather cumbersome exercise): Pune and Kochi. Each was bid for an astronomical sum, more than the total bids of all eight current teams. Pune was snapped up by Sahara, which makes sense since its close to Mumbai and a growing commercial center. Kochi may seem a surprising choice to some, but when considered from a financial viewpoint, the benefits are significant. The Gulf market offers an increased television audience and given Lalit Modi's grand, if gaudy, vision of world domination of Indian cricket, he will probably have a smug smile if cricket can upstage football in Kerala, which has predominantly followed the latter.

Even though there are two new teams and the number of matches increase next year, the number of knockout matches will remain the same. This means the race for the semifinal spots will be even more manic than before. This could also mean that if a team like Delhi which led the table last year before the semifinals started, was to lead the table again in 2011 (indicating greater consistency), then to be dumped out as an inspired Gilchrist did in 2009 at Centurion would smack of great injustice. Also, (if I can be a devil's advocate here), some results which could decide the top four spots may be open to scrutiny, especially if they involve teams that have no chance of making it to the semifinals.

Perhaps, one of the main reasons why the format is not likely to change is because of the TV ratings that shoot up during the semifinals and finals. I remember driving through the streets in Bangalore when Royal Challengers played Deccan Chargers in IPL 2009 final at Jo'burg and it was such a huge relief to cruise through empty streets since a vast majority was glued to the TV, following the live action. Maybe this is another first that Modi will lay claim to. A league that has more people watching it during the knockout rounds :)

Week 1 Review

Generally, it is too early to predict any trend after one week of a six-week tournament. Especially, when that tournament features a league-knockout format (which I'm not a big fan of, but more on that later). However, it is safe enough to review which team(s) has(ve) started to dispel the rustiness and lack of cohesion.

After today's matches (Rajasthan vs Kolkata and Mumbai vs Bangalore), Bangalore have usurped the pole position from Mumbai with a convincing seven-wicket win over a team that have twice exceeded 200 in their completed batting innings. Kallis continues to remain unbeaten and the bowling is going from strength to strength, with Vinay Kumar ably supporting the battering ram Steyn and the wily Kumble with a triple sucker-punch in the 11th over, packing off Rayudu, Tendulkar and Bravo in five deliveries. A truly stupendous catch by Dravid was the icing on a tidy fielding cake. With Taylor and White busy in the Aus-NZ series and Pietersen griping his way to 90s in Bangladesh, Bangalore's batting is certainly not short of firepower.

On the other side of the table, Rajasthan will feel mighty relieved to have opened their account against Ganguly's blow-hot blow-cold side, with a markedly improved performance by their batsmen and bowlers. Decimated by injuries, it is an outfit sorely seeking inspiration and while it may not have exactly divined by Jhunjhunwala's (JJ as dubbed by Warne) decisive 45, the win will give much-needed confidence to approach forthcoming matches.

Deccan and Chennai will look for more consistency, despite hitting their groove against Punjab and Delhi respectively in their last matches. Deccan is depending too much on its foreign imports to prevail in tight matches, covering up for poor contributions from the Indian contingent. The law of averages is sure to catch up with Gilly and Co and it will be interesting to see who will stand up and be counted then. Dhoni's absence leaves huge holes in 3 departments, but while Chennai have adequate replacements in the batting and keeping department, Raina's inexperience in leading sides in an international-standard competition will be severely tested.

Punjab have had the worst start possible, with the bowling looking woebegone. Sreesanth is the main culprit, conceding monstrous overs in consecutive matches. Yuvraj and Sangakkara aren't pulling their weights in a relatively light batting lineup either. Clearly missing the dynamism of Shaun Marsh at the top of the batting order, the express incisiveness of Brett Lee, and the versatility of James Hopes, Punjab needs to pull up its socks or it could quickly end up going down the same lane as Kolkata did in IPL 2009 and Bangalore and Deccan in IPL 2008.

That leaves Delhi, who is also having to do with its captain and one half of a potent opening combination out injured. Delhi's worries don't end there, though. The bowling during the middle overs is not penetrative enough and two outstanding performers of IPL 2009, Dilshan and de Villiers have failed to get going this year. Long earmarked as potential winners, Delhi will need to dig deep to get back that winning momentum.

IPL 2010

Finally, the road show kicks off today.

Here is the official fixture list.

Hopefully, RCB should cross the ultimate hurdle this time. It would be a truly splendid response to all the critics who branded them as a Test team in IPL 2008.

Champs League T20

With the Champs League T20 around the corner, here is a quick snapshot of the groups and the schedule of the matches:

GROUP A
Deccan Chargers
Somerset
Trinidad & Tobago

GROUP B
Eagles
New South Wales
Sussex

GROUP C
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Cape Cobras
Otago

GROUP D
Delhi Daredevils
Victoria
Wayamba

Here is the fixture list.

IPL 2 - a review

As the dust settles over Johannesburg and the people get back to their daily routines, the cricketing world (read Asian bloc) readies itself for the World T20 championship, due to begin next week. The more traditional folks are all set for the Ashes, which begins in July. Either way, IPL is soon becoming a forgotten chapter, albeit a great money-spinning one at that. 

I must admit before hand that I am not a hardcore cricket series review writer. I honestly do not delude myself to write about a tournament that saw 59 matches in 37 days. Its just too cumbersome to gather the memories and embellish them with attractive adjectives. However, I will make a small attempt to reason some things:

• First things first. Let's start with the name. If this is the Indian Premier League, what/where is the division two? If this is supposedly a scaled-down version of the European domestic football leagues, then wouldn't the competitiveness of the matches be increased a bit more by the fear of relegation to and the reward of promotion from lower divisions? And also, there have been reports that come 2011, the number of franchises will increase to 10, which in turn, will increase the total number of league games to 72 from the current 56. In such a scenario, the number of permutations and combinations arising from potential semi-finalists will be so mind-boggling, mathematicians will have their tasks cut out. Before long, I reckon there will arise a pressing need to make it simpler. 
  
  
• The format of the tournament needs a serious rethink. It makes no sense that the winning team (Deccan Chargers) entered the semi-finals over another (Kings XI Punjab) having the same number of points but dropped out only because of an inferior run-rate while the team (Delhi Daredevils) that looked most likely to lift the trophy and played like one crashed out at the semi-finals stage for the second season running. Delhi would have an excellent reason to feel aggrieved at the format that will punish 14 days of good performance by one day (nay, 3 hours) of superior cricket by the opposition. 
  
  
• The strategic break, unlike what most people think and latch on to, works both ways. It's all fine if the batting team racks up a hefty score (80+ for 2 wickets or something like that) in 10 overs and the bowling team has no opportunity to regroup and rethink their strategy. If anything, matches in IPL 2 were more closely fought than IPL 1, not primarily because of the strategy break, but also because of the bouncier pitches and a majority of the national teams coming off tours. This is not to suggest that I am a fan of strategy breaks. They are a right pain in the you-know-where when I'm catching the match on TV. 
  
  
• It's a tremendous insult to the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Anil Kumble and their respective sides to not be appreciated or be given an opportunity to savor the hardwork of reaching a final and ensuring those watching the game get a splendid encounter. The organizers' decision to have the Closing Ceremony before the prizes were distributed to the participating teams, officials and groundstaff smacked of insouciant arrogance. Personally, and I am not entirely sure I will be contradicted on this, the cricket comprehensively outperformed the glitz and the glamour that followed.
  
  
• There were some noises, most notably from John Buchanan, the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders and his counterpart from Delhi, Greg Shipperd, about increasing the number of foreign players per playing XI. Their argument holds thin water, simply because, if the intention of this tournament was to unearth hidden gems of Indian domestic cricket, then Manish Pandey, Shadab Jakati, the two Ojhas (Pragyan and Naman), among others have succeeded in fulfilling those hopes. In addition, just because your bench strength includes the likes of Glenn McGrath, Chaminda Vaas or Mashrafe Mortaza, you just can't complain that you don't have enough opportunities to play them. Royal Challengers Bangalore never had the same line-up for consecutive matches until the fag end of the tournament and ended up giving opportunities to almost all their players. It is quite a different thing that they were forced to, rather than intend to, look for a stable XI in their quest for the semi-finals, given their inconsistent run at the beginning of the tournament. 
  
  
• Overalll, fielding was extremely poor. Almost one catch was dropped per match, if not per inning. Maybe, the cold evenings didn't help, but that is no excuse for internationally renowned fielders like Gibbs (against Delhi in the first semi-final) and Uthappa (against Deccan in the last league game) to drop dollies. Oh, the man who holds the world record for most catches by an outfielder in Test cricket muffed one in the final. Pressure can strike anywhere and to anyone, isn't it, Rahul Dravid?
  

Congratulations to Deccan Chargers for winning this IPL. Congratulations to Royal Challengers Bangalore as well, for turning the corner and playing like Imran Khan once called his 1992 World Cup winning team, "cornered tigers". Hope the next season is as good as this one.