DLF IPL - HOME TEAM

Early 2008 when talks about starting the Indian Premier League were raised. The one good reason(besides stealing the limelight from ICL) was that local talent will get a platform to play with greats of the game, international exposure and opportunity to get noticed. On those lines, the 3rd season has not been disappointing as most teams realised that besides having 4 quality intl players in the team, it is very important to have 7 talented local guys, who can steal victories for them. Some teams could not get the combination right like DD and KKR where some like RCB and MI had headache with whom to bench. But, these local guys have to be the toast of the third season of DLF IPL. Here are the xi players who well truly define the term "HOME TEAM".

• Naman Ojha
• Murali Vijay
• Tirumalasetti Suman
• Faiz Fazal
• Saurabh Tiwary
• Ambatti Rayudu
• Kedar Jadhav
• Ravichandran Ashwin
• Vinay Kumar
• Siddharth Trivedi
• Murali Kartik

No surprises for the choice of openers, both Ojha & Vijay performed 2 notches above expectations. Suman won games for DC and helped the defending champions restore pride. Fazal looked quite good in the Royals outfit. Played a very significant role in the top order. The Mumbai Indians duo of Tiwary & Rayudu probably played their best cricket together. Caused lot of problems in the opposition's game plan. Jadhav had one really good knock for the Daredevils but, there on the Double D's couldn't figure out whom to play. Ashwin opened the bowling and did some serious damage for the Chennai Super Kings. His ability to mix it up and be very unpredictable was sheer class. Dint look like a rookie was in action. Vinay Kumar bowled very well initially and later got the stick treatment. But, in parts was good. SidT also bowled within his limits but mixed it very well and reaped praise from his captain and team mates. Murali Kartik showed with his county experience and Indian conditions was very effective but, was not used all that well.

Many others impressed. Of course, there is not room for all. We pick just eleven but, here we must mention a few. Ashoke Dinda once again showed signs of a smart bowler. Old Horse, Romesh Powar was very good but lack of wickets and 2 spinners already in the list meant he was left out. Badrinath, faced lot of criticism but had few good knocks that saved CSK the blushes. Mithun Manhas, Sarabjeet Ladda, Iqbal Abdulla, M.S.Bisla, Hameet Singh showed that domestic strength is very vital for the IPL teams.