Chennai brimming with in-form players

Match facts

Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)

Mumbai fell short by two runs in their opening game

Big Picture

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings flagged off IPL 2012 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Two strong sides played out a tepid match, with Mumbai trouncing the hosts. Mumbai’s opening game of this edition didn’t quite go to plan, losing narrowly to Royal Challengers Bangalore in a game that see-sawed in the last stages. With the asking rate climbing during Mumbai’s chase, Royal Challengers appeared to have the match in control, but Dinesh Karthik’s three consecutive sixes eased the equation considerably. Though Karthik failed to see the side through, Mumbai would have been better served if Karthik had more support.

Not for the first time, Kieron Pollard walked in later than he should have (he got to face only two deliveries). For the past few seasons, fans have pushed for a promotion in the batting order and never understood Mumbai’s conservative approach to Pollard. Perhaps there is a good reason for that strategy, but it is hard to fathom. Had he been set, the result could have been different. Despite the defeat, Mumbai needn’t tinker with their line-up. Lasith Malinga missed the game due to injury, but he will be forced to sit out the second match, fit or not, since the game’s in Chennai.

Super Kings haven’t always been the strongest starters. Given the form of their protagonists from the Australia Tests – MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and M Vijay – it’s hard to imagine the side stuttering. The ban on Sri Lanka players affects them the least, given they have only two such players in their line-up, who aren’t automatic picks. Chennai are without Faf du Plessis for at least the first month due to injury, while two other South Africans, Albie Morkel and Chris Morris join the team after the South African domestic T20 competition ends on April 7. .

 

Players to watch

After being smacked for three fours off his first four balls, Jasprit Bumrah’s choice was starting to look farcical for Mumbai Indians. Bumrah scripted a remarkable turnaround, picking up three wickets on IPL debut. His unusual high-arm action makes him worth watching, and his performance should guarantee at least another game. He bowls from wide of the crease and generates a sharp angle into the right-handers, which fetched him two of his three wickets.

Ravindra Jadeja has in recent times been the butt of jokes on social media networks for failing to prove his two-million-dollar price tag. While Jadeja may have underachieved as a batsman for India, respect for him should have grown after the Australia Tests where he picked up 24 wickets, second behind Ashwin (29).

 

2012 head-to-head

Mumbai won the opening game by eight wickets, chasing down a paltry 113. The second match, at Wankhede Stadium, was a nailbiter, with Dwayne Smith playing a blinder for Mumbai with 16 needed off the last over. Smith smashed three boundaries off the last three balls to steal a two-wicket win for Mumbai. Super Kings hit back in the Elimination final, winning by 38 runs in Bangalore.

 

      Stats and trivia

• Mumbai lead the head-to-head with seven wins against Super Kings, out of 13 games.
• Suresh Raina was the leading run-scorer for Super Kings last season with 441 runs in 19 games.
• Sachin Tendulkar is the top-scorer in matches between the two sides, with 353 runs at an average of 44.12 from 10 innings. 

Quotes

“The focus is on a few star players, both Indian and foreign, but there are others too who have contributed immensely. Take Badrinath for instance. He might not be a big hitter but has come up with several important performances for the team.”
MS Dhoni, the Super Kings captain

“It was the first time that I played in front of such huge crowd but I wasn’t paying any attention to the crowd. The more you focus on the inside, the better it is.”
Jasprit Bumrah on his first taste of the IPL.

Chennai Super Kings again the team to beat

 

Chennai Super Kings might have bolstered their fast-bowling resources leading-up to IPL 2013, but R Ashwin will continue to be their lynchpin

Big Picture

Chennai Super Kings are the only team to make it to the semi-final stage – or the equal – of every IPL tournament so far. Twice, including in the previous season, they’ve finished runners-up. In 2010 and2011, they won. 

 

Like most IPL teams, they’ve had their share of controversy, not the least of it being claims of conflict of interest – BCCI president N Srinivasan also manages India Cements, the franchise’s owners. However, the on-field success has so far managed to keep the spotlight on the positives. This time, though, Super Kings face what is possibly their biggest off-field issue yet: that of the exclusion of Sri Lankan players from the games in Chennai, following political tensions. The other franchises, whose Sri Lankans play more central roles in the team, have voiced fears that this gives Super Kings an unfair advantage in their home games, while some have criticised the IPL’s softness in not moving the matches away from Chennai altogether. This means Super Kings will need a near-perfect showing to drag the headlines in the right direction, but even another triumph might leave a bad aftertaste.

Back to the real cricket then. Apart from being the IPL’s most successful franchise, Super Kings have also been the tournament’s most settled team. Few changes had been made to the squad over five seasons, with the batting and spin-bowling departments being their customary powerhouses. This year, though, the obvious focus is on bolstering the pace bowling, and the squad sports several new faces as a result. Australia’s Dirk Nannes and Ben Laughlin, West Indies’ Jason Holder and South Africa’s Chris Morris – for whom Super Kings paid US$625,000, a whopping 31 times his base price – were snapped up in February’s auction. Later, they signed Imtiaz Ahmed, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohit Sharma and Ronit More, domestic pacers who are all coming off solid Ranji Trophy performances. Given the nature of the Chepauk track though – which was on ample display during the recent India-Australia Test – how much of an impact this move will have is as yet unclear.

 

Key players

With Super Kings turning all that attention to their seam-bowling, it’s clear that they believe R Ashwin has the spin front well covered, with Ravindra Jadeja backing him up. Ashwin has the numbers, in the IPL and otherwise, to back up that notion. Currently India’s primary spinner, he has 49 IPL wickets for Super Kings – second only to Albie Morkel, who has played 21 more games. More importantly, at the end of the 2012 season, Ashwin boasted of an economy rate of just over six, the best among all Super Kings bowlers.If Super Kings look to Ashwin with the ball, they look first to MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina with the bat. In the absence of the injured Faf du Plessis, the now-retired and ever-dependable Michael Hussey will partner M Vijay (who comes in high on confidence after feasting on Australia’s bowlers) at the top, leaving Raina and Dhoni in charge of finishing duties. That was an area Super Kings struggled in during the round-robin stage in 2012, often lacking the late surge. It is an area Raina and Dhoni are more than capable of improving upon.

 

Big name in

Dirk Nannes: He now sits at No. 2 on the overall Twenty20 wickets charts, behind South African Alfonso Thomas. Despite his extensive T20 experience, he warmed the bench all through IPL 2012 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was bought by Super Kings at the auction for US$600,000, and is likely to compete with fellow Australian quick Ben Hilfenhaus for the fourth foreign-player’s spot in their line-up. 

 

Big name out

Doug Bollinger: The Australia seamer was one of four overseas players released by Super Kings in the lead-up to IPL 2013, alongside George Bailey, Scott Styris and Suraj Randiv. Bollinger had galvanised Super Kings’ campaign in 2010, when he arrived halfway through the tournament. Since then, he had been the team’s principal fast-bowling new-ball option, claiming 37 wickets at 18.72. That is, until Hilfenhaus arrived in similar fashion halfway through last year’s event. 

Below the radar

Baba Aparajith: The eighteen-year-old allrounder from Tamil Nadu did not have a Ranji Trophy season that stood out. Where he did make his mark, though, was the Under-19 World Cup last year. A top-order batsman who can bowl handy offspin and a lively fielder, Aparajith knocked off Man-of-the-Match awards in the World Cup quarter-final and semi-final with all-round contributions. Considering Super Kings’ affinity for allrounders, he should fit into their scheme of things quite well. 

Availability

Super Kings will be without Faf du Plessis for at least the first month of the IPL, as he recovers from a back injury. Allrounders Albie Morkel and Chris Morris are doubtful for the first two games due to South African domestic commitments. The squad includes two Sri Lankans: seamer Nuwan Kulasekara and offspinner Akila Dananjaya. Given the circumstances, whether they will travel to India at all is as yet unclear. None of Super Kings’ players have international commitments during the course of the IPL.

A new beginning for Hyderabad

 

	Shikhar Dhawan will be batting with renewed confidence after a stellar Test debut

 

Big Picture

The IPL is a two-month long exercise but the controversies and issues it has thrown up in recent years have kept it in the news long after the last ball of each season has been bowled. The financial woes of Deccan Chargers was one such matter and it led to the franchise’s termination by the BCCI, followed by its acquisition for US$79.4 million by the Chennai-based Sun TV network. The new owners of what is now the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise retained 20 players from the original squad, but there have been some changes since. 

The team had a forgettable season in 2012, finishing second from the bottom. Among the attempts made by its new owners to reverse those fortunes is introducing changes to the support staff. Tom Moody has been appointed coach, Waqar Younis has been roped in as a bowling consultant, Simon Helmot was named Moody’s deputy, and Kris Srikkanth and VVS Laxman drafted in as team mentors.

Kumar Sangakkara has been retained as captain, though he won’t play the team’s match(es) in Chennai. There are few specialist batsmen in the squad, which relies primarily on allrounders – those of the bowling variety. Sunrisers, at the auction this year, bought Darren Sammy, Thisara Perera, and Nathan McCullum. They also strengthened their attack with the purchase of medium-pacer Clint McKay and have replaced Darren Bravo with South Africa opener Quinton de Kock.

Chargers managed to save face last year by winning their last two league games after beginning the season horribly, losing five in a row. Theirs was an all-round failure, with bowlers failing to defend sizeable targets when their batsmen clicked, and the batsmen not helping matters with their inconsistency when the bowling did better. Some of their overseas signings this time should boost the middle order and add more depth to the bowling attack.

 

Key players

Shikhar Dhawan was the team’s highest run-getter last year and remains a crucial player in the XI, though he’ll miss the first two weeks of the tournament due to a hand injury he suffered during the Test series against Australia. Dhawan has de Kock, Parthiv Patel, and Sangakkara as potential opening partners, and has plenty of confidence coming in to this IPL after a successful domestic season and a whirlwind century on Test debut in Mohali. 

Dale Steyn is the Sunrisers’ biggest bowling asset, but equally important will be Sangakkara’s leadership. He’s playing under a new group of owners, though with a familiar face in coach Moody, who formerly coached Sri Lanka. Sangakkara had a poor IPL last year, averaging 18.18 in 12 games but has had an excellent run this year with a productive series against Bangladesh. If his own form was a contributing factor to the batting failures last year, he has a team with a group of players – Sammy, Steyn, Dhawan and himself – with recent successes that should be able to drive them to prevent the kind of beginning they had last season.

 

Big names in

Thisara Perera: Sunrisers spent US$675,000 on Perera, a reliable seamer with good variations and big-hitting batsman in the middle order. Perera has a strong reputation for the skills he brings, and his team might be faced with a tough choice between picking him and Sammy in the playing XI given the overseas quota, and Sangakkara and Steyn as likely starters. 

 

Big names out

Dan Christian was bought for a whopping US$900,000 by Chargers in 2011, but that didn’t seem to have paid dividends last year. Christian played less than half of his team’s matchers and proved expensive with the ball. He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for this season, for US$100,000. 

 

Below the radar

Amit Mishra, the legspinner, has not played for India since August 2011 but has done well for Haryana of late. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament, he picked up 10 wickets in five games at 10.80, conceding just six an over. Together with McCullum, he is one of two specialist spinners likely to get a full spell and has warmed up well for the IPL this season. 

 

Availability

Sangakkara and Perera will miss the Sunrisers’ game in Chennai on April 25. Should Sunrisers qualify for the knockouts, it remains to be seen if the current Tamil Nadu government makes an exception for those matches vis-à-vis the participation of Sri Lankan players. There is a possibility McCullum might miss the latter stages of the tournament, as New Zealand are scheduled to tour England then, with the first Test beginning on May 16.

‘Spirit of cricket won’t be curtailed by such prejudice’ – Sangakkara

 

Kumar Sangakkara: “Had it been a nation versus nation issue then Sri Lankan players would not have been here” Manoj Ridimahaliyadda

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, has said the decision to exclude Sri Lankan players from the IPL matches in Chennai will not “curtail” the spirit of cricket. The players, he said, continue to feel “very welcome” in other parts of India.

“Politics in this case has restricted our presence, our belief to play in every part of India. But I don’t think sports and spirit of cricket is ever going to be curtailed by such prejudice,” Sangakkara told PTI. “The build-up has been different and difficult for Sri Lankan players. But at the end of the day they are here to play IPL.”

“The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has made it clear that no Sri Lankan players will be [playing] in Chennai. [But] India is much more than Chennai and Tamil Nadu, and I think the rest of India has been very welcoming of us.”

The IPL’s governing council decided that the matches in Chennai will not feature any Sri Lankan cricketers or match officials, following growing political tensions, stemming from the treatment of certain ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Responding to comments from former players stating that the Sri Lankans should boycott the IPL due to the restrictions, Sangakkara said: “It has been a divisive issue back home as well. But this is not a nation versus nation issue. It’s only a state… and I don’t think it is the entire state [Tamil Nadu].

“So, we’ve got to put it in the right perspective. Foreign policies are not going to be dictated by that and had it been a nation versus nation issue then Sri Lankan players would not have been here.”

Sri Lanka’s Issue With IPL

SL players will not take part in Pepsi IPL 2013 matches in Chennai: IPL GC

Decision taken after SL Govt. issued travel advisory

 

This is about news reports last week that the government of Sri Lanka has issued a travel advisory that its citizens should exercise caution when travelling to Tamil Nadu.

Today, the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has written to the Prime Minister of India stating that she will not permit  take part in Sri Lankan players or umpires in matches in Chennai during Pepsi IPL 2013.

The IPL Governing Council met this afternoon to discuss the issue. Make secure all involved in the IPL, whether players, spectators or those working in the stadiums, is of paramount importance to the BCCI.

The Governing Council decided that Sri Lankan players will not take part in the Pepsi IPL 2013 League matches in Chennai and will tell the nine franchises so.

Rajeev Shukla of Chairman IPL