Organizing foreigners ... !!

Well, this is not an attempt to advise the new government about some of their gazillion reforms coming up :P

I am talking about the IPL.

I have been dumb found by the way teams have selected their 4 foreign players in any given game. To my knowledge, each team has a pool of 9-10 foreign players to choose from. Honestly speaking, I find it very appropriate that only 4 foreign players can fit into a playing eleven. The last thing we want is the dearth of Indian players in the INDIAN Premier League. Having said that, its extremely difficult for the coach and the captain to shortlist 4 players from this pool. But there are some obvious take aways which need no debate and teams have been found lacking in terms of coming up with the right foreign player formation.

Lets start with Chennai. I think this is the only team that came close to selecting the BEST 4 foreign players. Hayden would make a playing eleven of any team in the world in any format of the game. No wonder he holds the Orange cap. Albie Morkel is one of the most destructive stikers of the cricket ball and he is a capable bowler too. Murali is again a must-have. No debates on that. If he is not taking wickets, he will atleast pin down the batsmen. Last year's final was a flash in the pan when Yusuf took him apart. According to me, the fourth foreign player for Chennai should be George Bailey. Thanx to ESPN-Star for broadcasting Australian domestic cricket. I have seen Bailey play. And boy he can play. Nicknamed Geuronimo, this guy can wield the willow like no other. This guy has been INSTRUMENTAL in captaining Tasmania in the absence of Ponting and he guided Tasmania to the ODI championship Down Under. As an option, Michael Hussey should be on standby as the 5th player. Ntini and Oram are more utility players in the sense that they dont guarantee that they will put on a performance ... definitely not in T-20. Oram should have made it to my list but his recent injuries have taken the zing out of his bowling.

Next up is Delhi. Looking at their foreign players, its a bloody tough task to choose their 5 foreign players. I guess AB should make it automatically. He says he wants to become the best player in the world in all 3 formats and doesnt he back himself? The 2nd player should be Daniel Vettoti for God's sake. This man is a wizard in T-20 cricket. If you have any doubt then just look at this bowling average, strike rate and no of wickets. If you still have some doubt, get hold of the India-NZ video from the T-20 World Cup when he single handedly stopped India in its tracks after Sehwag and Gambhir threatened to murder the Kiwis. That was also India's only loss of the tournament. Dilshan comes in next. This guy is made for T-20. Having become the new Lankan captain in T-20 cricket, it has just given him the fillip to take his game up by a notch or two. An electric fielder, great runner between the wickets and more than handy off-spinning option ... this guy should be a certainty in every game. If available, Collingwood should be the 4th player. I dont know the logic of keeping him out. To be fair, Delhi's batting ends at no. 4 according to the current formation. With all due respect to Karthik, I feel Delhi lacks the depth. Collingwood is the perfect man to come in after Sehwag, Gambhir, Dilshan and AB. Add to that his canny bowling. The player on standby should be Farveez Maharoof. He is a good steady bowler. He has all the variations plus his nemesis (read Sehwag) is in his own team :P ... Warner is too recent a player to walk into the playing eleven and his cross batted swipes leave much to be desired. McGrath to be honest doesnt come with the same artillery for Delhi as he did for the Oz ... Owais Shah is too inconsistent.

Now Punjab. The first player should always be Brett Lee without a shade of a doubt. Everyone knows why. The next player should be Kumar Sangakkara. He is street smart and has this natural ability to adapt to the situation of the game. If you need one man to bat through while the others want to hit out, Sanga is the man for you. Amazing wicket keeper to boot. Ravi Bopara is fast becoming the most efficient T-20 player. If you have seen him finish games for Essex, you would know what I am talking about. He is going great guns in all forms of the game. His bowling is an added incentive. He is my third choice. If available, Shaun Marsh should be the 4th player and James Hopes should act as their fence player. Marsh already proved himself last year and Hopes is an extremely handy T-20 all rounder. But since they were not available, my 4th and 5th players would be Mahela and Abdulla. But I feel Mahela is too good a player to be wasted at no. 5/6. Abdulla has the potential to become the next big thing in Sputh African cricket.

On to Deccan. The captain selects himself. Gilly doesnt need any invitation to make the playing eleven. Andrew Symonds should be the next player. Great with the bat and more than good with the ball. A great fielder. My personal choice for the 3rd player is Fidel Edwards. The reason why Deccan stormed through the first half of the tournament was due to RP and Edwards opening the bowling for Deccan. Edwards also has a slinging action like Malinga and his pace can unsettle the best of batsmen. The next player should be Dwayne Smith. In fact, I would say he should be an automatic choice much like Symonds. He is the perfect no. 6 batsman in T-20. He has the capability to hit the long ball and is a deadly accurate fielder. He can also bowl decent medium pace. Looking at this year's team, I will have to say the 5th player should be Gibbs. Around 3-4 years ago, he should have made the 11 automatically. But he is inconsistent now. If Afridi was available, he would have been ahead of Smith and Gibbs for me. Vaas doesnt impress me and so does Styris.

Talking about Rajasthan, I would say the biggest mistake they have made is to keep out Tyron Henderon. This guy is made for T-20 cricket. He along with Murali Kartik took Middlesex to the T-20 championship in England. He is a great T-20 bowler and a ferocious striker of the ball. He should make the playing eleven always. Warne has missed a trick this time. Warne would be the 2nd player for obvious reasons. Graeme Smith is also an automatic choice. Given this year's team, I would pick Mascarenhas as their 4th player always. He is a canny bowler and a big hitter. Johan Botha would be my fringe player. Of course, Tanvir and Watson select themselves but they were not available this year. Quiney, Carseldine and Harwood are largely unimpressive as T-20 players.

That brings me to Mumbai. One of the most under achieving teams and its disappointing for me as a Mumbai fan to write about this. Someone needs to drill a fact into the Mumbai authorities that Sanath Jayasuriya should always be present in the eleven and he should always open. The last time he batted in the middle order was the 1992 World Cup. His average back then was 19 ... and didnt he do an admirable job working his ass to end up with an average of over 30? SRT bamboozled me when he didnt pick Sanath for a game. I will go to the extent of saying that its not a huge issue if SRT himself doesnt play but Sanath SHOULD ALWAYS BE THERE. Next is his Lankan team mate ... Lasith Malinga. This guy again is made for T-20. His toe crushing yorkers and mesmerising pace changes make it extremely difficult to score off him. JP Duminy has come on leaps and bounds and it didnt surprise me when he hit 5 fifties. In fact he was the saving grace for the much hyped Mumbai batting line up. Dwayne Bravo is the 4th player and according to me one of the game's best all rounders. But he should NOT open the innings. :). The last player (in fact he should have been tried very early in the tournament) is Graham Napier. This guy seriously makes a mockery of the cricket ball. One of the hardest hitters of the ball. Once blasted 16 sixes in one innings enroute to rip roaring 150 in a T-20 game. For my money, this guy had the potential of becoming one of the success stories of the tournament. But thats a bit of a skirmish on the part of SRT's captaincy. He should think like a captain and not as a leader :P

Time to shift from SRT to SRK. Kolkata is not a team as bad as they are projected to be. Lets be frank. They have Brendon McCullum at the helm. We all know how he lit up Chinnaswamy stadium last year. Maybe assigning the captaincy to someone like Hussey or Hodge would have helped given the fact that both of them have captained Victoria previously. McCullum isnt even a local district captain in Kiwiland. Next on the list are the 2 Victorians that I just mentioned. Brad Hodge is the highest run getter in T-20 cricket in the world and is the glue that has held Victoria and Leicestershire en route to mutliple championship seasons. A handy offie and a more than reliable fielder. He has been the saving grace for Kolkata this year. He should always be in the eleven. David Hussey for me is an automatic choice. He has a very simple way of playing T-20. Come in and graft. Hit out in the last 3-4 overs. One of the most dumb decisions have been to keep Charles Langeveldt out of the Knight Riders team. How can a T-20 freak be kept out? Dumb ... dumber ... dumbest. Period. The last player should be Chris Gayle. This guy is a very weird cricketer. It almost makes you feel that you need to perk him up for a match. He is very inconsistent for a man with his kind of talent. But should be in the pool of 5 players. In Gayle's absence, Mendis should be the fringe player.

Finally, its speaking about Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers. Make no mistake. This is one of the best teams in the tournament and also one of the dumbest. You cant ... I repeat ... you cant keep Cameron White out of the playing eleven. If 4 captains come and go and still dont get White into the team, its a problem. White is again MADE for T-20. No wonder most of his Aussie team mates (playing for other franchises) chuckle at the thought of not facing upto White. He is one of the Victorian T-20 and ODI stalwarts along with David Hussey and Hodge. For me, White is an automatic choice. Ross Taylor walks into the team as my 2nd player. He is like Sehwag and Jayasuriya. You dont drop him if he fails once or twice or even 5 times. He has to be there always. Where the hell is Dale Steyn for God's sake? I know he got injured after 4-5 matches but that should have kept him out only for 1-2 matches. I see him giggling in the dugout and get drinks for his mates so I am assuming he can run up and pepper the batsmen as well. Just because you win with a certain combination does not allow you to drop one of the most lethal bowlers the Proteas have ever produced. Again, seriously dumb. Jacques Kallis is an imposing figure and should always be present in the eleven. My fifth player would be Jesse Ryder. Come on, this guy is talent. You cant keep dropping him. Sorry Boucher and Van Der Merwe but I dont think you are making any contributions to this team.

So that's that. My frustration at not having to see the so called T-20 players in action prompted me to write. It is still not late. Some teams might still benefit now (if not next year) by picking the right foreign players.

Here's hoping for a thrilling IPL-2 finale ... Cheers ... !!