[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Gansan

A bird told me at the start of the current edition it has been decided that Punjab will win this time!

Well the birdie got it wrong !

Originally Posted by PPS

'Cracker of a game' as Ravi Shastri would say!

What Shastri said yesterday was, "Both teams played splendid cricket but NO team deserved to win".

Its was good to see young Indian players do well & it was surprising to see International bowlers like Steyn & Johnson being taken apart!

Since only 4 in a team can be foreign players, any team where the Indian players do well will do well in the tournament.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by msdivy

What Shastri said yesterday was, "Both teams played splendid cricket but NO team deserved to win".

What was even more hilarious was Commentator Danny Morrison referring to Manish Pandey as Manish Pandy!

Since only 4 in a team can be foreign players, any team where the Indian players do well will do well in the tournament.

Was more specifically referring to Uthappa who got the most runs, Mohit Sharma who got the most wickets, Akshar Patel who got another award & some other players from other teams like Tambe,etc. Usually over the years its the International players who walk away with the awards & overshadow the local players!

[Eddy]

And we have the 8th edition starting next week.

Its KKR vs MI to start things off:

RR - Smith, Faulkner, Watson - what a trio to have in your side

Punjab - Killer Miller and the Big Show Maxwell

Bagalore - Superman ABD, Gayle & Starc ! Kohli too, if he's able to find some form !

Delhi again is the weakest team IMO

I am also interested in how a temp ban on Sunil Narine has affected his bowling, if at all.

[TorqueyTechie]

IPL is starting today !! Its starting at the Eden gardens with the match between KKR and MI. Was disappointed with the opening ceremony.

Though I do not support either of the teams I am hoping to see a cracker of a match.

I am rooting for RCB obviously but again its a batting heavy side as always. Lets see if they can make the play offs atleast this time.

So whom are you guys supporting? Mods can we have a vote for this?

[PPS]

The way Malinga is bowling right now he will soon be warming the bench just like how Dale Steyn is doing!

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by PPS

The way Malinga is bowling right now he will soon be warming the bench just like how Dale Steyn is doing!

Yet I do not agree with the SRH's plan of putting the deadliest fast bowler of the planet on reserve. I am of the opinion that ti is messing up its overseas player combination by putting Morgan and Steyn off the playing 11. Even if the batting needs to be buttressed, Morgan is any day better and reliable than Bopara or Williamson.
I was desperate to see Steyn-Bolt combo in the attack backed up by Bhuvi but with the present trend, this doesn't seem to materialize in near future.

[carwatcher]

I am very pleased to see the number of posts on this thread wrt IPL2015.
It proves that you can't fool all the people all the time.

[Eddy]

Note from Support: Thread re-opened.

Hmmm, thoughts on the auction and squads guys ?

[mukul32]

Well, as the thread is opened, a question here. What do you think of your favourite IPL team's chances after looking at the performance of the players in the world T20?

Among the two newcomers, Pune don't look as invincible as they did on paper, as Smith and DuPlessis aren't in the best of form. And both are crucial in their top order. The onus seems more on Rahane, KP and MSD, which is still more than enough firepower. Looks like DuPlessis and Rahane will be their opening pair this season. Ashwin is also taking wickets, but he is leaking runs too. The other bowlers apart from Irfan don't look very promising.

For the Gujjus, Bravo and Faulkner have been in superb touch, which is good news. Add to that BMac, who scored the fastest test ton recently. But Raina and Jadeja's form will be a worry for them. Steyn will be the bowler to watch out for from their side. They still rely majorly on their slew of all-rounders to come good though.

Hyderabad look good too, with their key players in decent touch. Warner and Dhawan have been scoring some runs, so has Morgan. Yuvraj will be the man to look out for in their batting. Anx they better give Williamson more chances this time. Among the bowlers, Nehra, Boult and Mustafiz have looked good, the rest not quite. What they still lack is local talent. And they have way too many left handers in their side.

RCB were always quite top heavy, and they are still quite top heavy. But their top is by far the heaviest of all. They should really choose to keep one between AB and Watto at no.5-6, and play young Sarfaraz at 4 to get more depth in the batting, and not lose their way in case the top order misfires. Kohli and Gayle are again red hot. Their bowling is quite thin apart from Starc, more so since trundler Binny has come in.

Kolkata are again a settled side, and they know exactly how the team will shape up, but most of their key players such as Gambhir, Yusuf, Chawla, aren't in any form. Narine is under threat due to his action. This time they would rely more on Uthappa and Russell than ever before. Also, Shakib has looked good recently, and ol' Hoggy is still around with them.

Mumbai also look settled, but fitness issues in case of players like Malinga, Pollard, Anderson etc will be a worry for them. They do have Buttler and Southee in the side, but both may not play too many games. They have both the X-factor players from the Indian team- Pandya and Bumrah who will surely come in handy. And they would want the likes of Parthiv and Rayudu to be more than liabilities.

Delhi were talked about after the auction for the wrong reasons, but they look like one of the slickest teams in this IPL. Apart from a slightly hollow looking middle order, they are pretty much settled. All their key players- deKock, Iyer, Duminy, Morris, Negi, Coulter-Nile, Tahir, Brathwaite, etc have been in great form recently. The bowling attack and fielding unit are right up there among the best, but the batting still relies on relatively inexperienced shoulders. They may not thrash opponents like an RCB or Pune would like to, but choke or block their progress instead and then capitalize. They have form on their side though. And Dravid.

Among all the teams, to me, Punjab look the worst this time. They have lost Sehwag, have only Vijay, Vohra and Marsh at the top, and the middle order relies way too heavily on Maxwell and Miller. In that the latter has been handed the pressure of captaincy. They will really regret dropping Bailey and not buying another experienced batsman this time. And unlike Delhi, their side is not only inexperienced but rigid as well. Keeper Saha doesn't have much to show with the bat. In the bowling, again they rely heavily on Axar and Mitch, both of whom haven't been heard of lately. They have bought some local bowlers and Mohit, but how effective they will be remains to be seen.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by mukul32

RCB were always quite top heavy, and they are still quite top heavy. But their top is by far the heaviest of all. They should really choose to keep one between AB and Watto at no.5-6, and play young Sarfaraz at 4 to get more depth in the batting, and not lose their way in case the top order misfires. Kohli and Gayle are again red hot. Their bowling is quite thin apart from Starc, more so since trundler Binny has come in.

Not sure how RCB will be handled as Dr.VJM is in hiding and Indian Government would be pressured to act on anything which is related to him.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by DWind

Not sure how RCB will be handled as Dr.VJM is in hiding and Indian Government would be pressured to act on anything which is related to him.

He has resigned from the position of director from the team and is no longer linked to the team. Last I heard JSW were in talks to acquire the team from USL. Not sure if it has been completed.

[nowwhat?]

My son wants to go for IPL this year. Does anyone know if there are season tickets for Bangalore? Any idea of the cost?

[mukul32]

News has come in that DD have appointed Zaheer Khan as the skipper for this IPL. It comes across as a somewhat helpless decision due to the absolute lack of senior alternatives. It also goes on to show that DD aren't the most confident of Duminy's form this time, and hence don't want to burden him with captaincy, or don't want to use up one overseas spot permanently with him. It is also good news to hear of a senior fast bowler given his due respect in a batsmen's game and batsmen's format though. But I do really feel for talented bowlers like Shami, Nadeem, etc. One spot will be used by Zaheer now, the other two by Mishra/Negi and Tahir. Apart from that, DeKock and Duminy are pretty much certainties in the playing XI. So that leaves just two lower order spots and one overseas spot. And then there are Morris and Brathwaite for competition.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

He has resigned from the position of director from the team and is no longer linked to the team. Last I heard JSW were in talks to acquire the team from USL. Not sure if it has been completed.

I thought USL was no longer interested in the deal. I still see RCB owned by USL. But USL now being owned by Diageo not sure what kind of expenses would be spared in running the team and paying the players. May not be affected in current IPL but would definitely affect the next IPL for sure.

[bnzjon]

After 2 years, when Chennai and Rajasthan joins back, what will happen to the Pune and Gujju team ?

Will Chennai and Rajasthan go for fresh auctions or retain their 2015 team members ?