One of the most expensive teams in IPL and so far they haven't done much justice to that . In the first edition, they almost rose from the ashes, after being down and out for the first few matches , they almost reached the semis.In the second, they were thoroughly outplayed, though they did have their share of chances, the other team got the better of it . They finished 7th. Sachin 'God' Tendulkar's captaincy jinx I guess.
This time they have bought some really valuable players and are looking favorites to clinch the title. They have bought the Hot Shot player at the moment, i.e Keiron Pollard who can be handy with bat as well as ball. They also have the ICL star , Rajagopalan Satish, who can hit the ball many a mile . So their team looks pretty even with a perfect mixture of stroke makers, hitters, all rounders and attacking bowlers. If the unit can gel well, they can steamroll over the other teams. Fans just have to pray that Sachin's captaincy jinx doesn't screw it up again.
SQUAD: Sachin Tendulkar (c), Shikhar Dhawan ,Jean-Paul Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Chandan Madan, Luke Ronchi, Pinal Shah, Yogesh Takawale, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar, Stuart Binny, Ryan McLaren, Graham Napier, Jude Singh,Syed Sahabuddin, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Rahil Sheikh,Dhawal Kulkarni, Rohan Raje, Chetanya Nanda.
Strenghts : A perfect mixture of experienced and young players. A perfect combo of stroke makers, powerhitters, all rounders and bowlers.
Weakness: I don't know if the team coordination is good . If it can overcome that , it should make their owners proud.
Watch out for : The man of the season , Keiron Pollard who can send the ball screeeeeeeaming to the boundaries and can bowl 4 overs . R. Sathish ain't less either. He can come handy with his part - timers and is an excellent fielder. Dwayne Bravo. Period!
Wah's XI:
1)Sachin Tendulkar©
2)Sanath Jayasuriya
3)Rahane/Shikar Dhawan
4)Dwayne Bravo
5)Keiron Pollard/JP Dumminy ( considering the present form form of JP, I think Pollard would make it )
6) R. Sathish/ Binny/ Nayar
7)Chandan Madan*
8) Bhajji
9)Zaks
10) Dhawal Kulkarni
11) Lasith Malinga
Wah's Say : The team looks in perfect shape. Jayasurya should be tried a few games, then decided to be played only on merit. Its a weak side in terms of fitness, Malinga, Zaks, Bravo etc are injury prone. If not for the fitness, they are a champion side this time .No wonder if they clinch the title too. :)
