IPL season 3

So the season 3 of the mad man’s game is here. So is it Back? Bigger? Better?

Bigger- it might be next year with 2 more teams to join the party

Better- is what we could decide over the next 1 month of action

But, its definitely back.. ya back to India after almost 2 yrs. That’s definitely a reason to celebrate.. Yay!! 😛

So what’s new this IPL? Let’s have a look what each of the franchises have in store this season

1. Chennai Super Kings

Its my home side 🙂 and I hope we win this time after a couple of fairly good outings in the past 2 seasons. We made it to the semis on both occasions. CSK will be as ever blessed with the presence of one of the best captains of the IPL, Dhoni. Couldn’t agree with Director of CSK more when he says, he s a 3-in-1 performer whose contribution can never go without a mention.

Haydos is back and we might get a chance to see him with his Mongoose bat. The one that looks like a Dhobi walla’s. Kemp is in the side too and we might have to wait for sometime to c the blazing opening pair of Hussey and Hayden.

Now putting the other teams in perspective in the order of my backing them 🙂

2. Mumbai Indians

+ Sachin leading from the front and in the midst of an amazing purple patch

+ The Caribbean explosive duo of Bravo and Pollard.

+ They will hope that the Indian Spin and Pace spearheads Bhaji and Zaheer fire along with Malinga’s unorthodox bowling

3. Delhi Daredevils

+ The awesome Delhi opening pair of Viru and his Ranji team mate Gauti. Warner could only add to the woes of the opposition.

+ SA’s ABD and SL’s Dilshan were well worth their money last time. ABD might not be the same on Indian tracks.

+ Nannes and Parnell will form a nice bowling pair

No more favorites.. Listing others in some random order

4. Bangalore Royal Challengers

+ My 3rd fav captain after Dhoni and Sachin. Kumble can trouble any side with balls landing on their seam

+ Kallis couldn’t have hit a good form in anyother better time. Being an excellent all-rounder he comes as a nice package

+ The young Indian contingent of Praveen, Pandey and Vinay kumar should make their presence felt.

5. Kolkata Knight Riders

+ Supposed to be the most glamorous team of the IPL. But the glamour usually limits itself to just SRK. Hope Dada leads them to a decent position this time.

+ Gayle’s flamboyant batting, Mathew’s all-round abilities and Bond’s fiery bowling should come good for them to spell success this season

6. King XI Punjab

+ Much will depend on how good Sangakkara handles the additional responsibility of Captaincy with batting and wicket keeping.

+ Jayawardene, UV and Bopara’s batting will be things to look out for.

+ The Australian pair of Lee and Marsh would be eagerly awaited.

7. Deccan Chargers

+ Gilly Gilly.. all the way. He s one another Batsman-Wicketkeeper-Captain package after Dhoni and Sangakkara. And a main cog in the wheel for the Deccan.

+ The out of form talented-Rohit and lasttime-purplecap-holder RP Singh need to come good.

+ Big man Symmo has been good with both bat and the ball. Vaas seems to be going back to his good old days with some amazing opening bowling spells. Look out!!

8. Rajasthan Royals

+ Royals = Shane Warne. The equation couldn’t get any simpler.

+ Smith’s and Dimma’s injuries have really hurt them. Should more than be compensated by Shane Watson’s return in April.

+ Warne lead a team of underdogs to an emphatic win once. Can he do it again? Wait and watch.

Let the games begin

I’ve lost track of days.. I don realise time flying by around me.. Days go on faster than nights.. I know wt u r thinking rite nw. No no! am not in love, but the Cricket carnival is back with a louder BANG!!

As sad as I am that it isn’t played in India this time, am as happy tht it gets to be played at all. SA – the land of Goldmines, natural beauty, wildlife n all the action – gets to set the stage this time around. Hoping to have a cracker of a season. My favorites, namma Chennai Super Kings  look better this time around with Haydos available for the whole tourney, the Million dollar baby Andrew, the captain himself on a roll after successfully touring with the Indian team around the world.

DLF ILP 2009

The 2008 finalists Super Kings n Raj Royals might start as favourites but I will hold the cards close to my chest. Look out for the Daredevils, MI and a rejuvenated Chargers and Knight Riders. I can’t place the Royal Challengers anywhr. But somehw I feel Raj Royals n Punjab r gonna b a let down.
We r already a few days into it.. n there ve been few positives n negatives picked so far

+

• The carnival, big party and the opening ceremony
• English in IPL this time.. we ll get to see wt the kevins and Andrews get to do.
• No more Indians-led-pack. Last time it was all abt Indian war horses, young n old, leading the teams (with the exception of Warny). But this time common sense seems to prevail, with proper captains leading the pack (tho am nt sure if McCullum is better than Dada)
• All the Bollywood glam dolls being part of the franchises. Last time it was only Preity, this time we ve Shilpa, Juhi n Katrina joining her.
• N of course all those Cheer leaders. They really keep the game going 🙂

–

• ARUN LAL – no offense meant. but its getting really tired to hear him day in n day out during each break.
• One suggestion: Pack Arunlal off to Africa (so that we get to c him very less) n bring Mandira back on studios. I really miss the deadly combo of Charu n Mandira. Not that Mandira is anywhr near ‘hot n happening’, she looks overdone n old. But anyday she is better than few mokkai mannars. Not to mention the first day when I was really pissed off watching 2 Lal’s (Arun n Lal chand rajput) discussing the 1st day’s game.. I was like wt the hell!! the perfect way not to start the big games. Btw, all these with due respect to his contribution to cricket. It wud ve been better if he had only stopped thr.
• Big things come with controversies. All those things abt multi-captaincy, Pak players being withdrawn, few aussie players pulling out. Many turned out to be dampeners.
• The strategic time breaks, introduced to reduce the time taken for an innings, as the big-heads feel that  more time is wasted to discuss strategies during a match. Tho i feel, this has not helped much, only benefit being to the organizers who ve found more time to sneak in their ads.
• CSK has started on a losing note. They ve lost 2 of thr 3 games!! 😦 Tho they had fought well, its really sore to be on the losing side. Hoping for brighter days ahead. So Goooo on CSK.. We r always behind u 🙂

Chennai super kings

And don miss my fellow IPL blogger Mr. Fake IPL Player, he deftly seems to pack a punch 😉