Chennai Super Kings will be the biggest losers as their top stars Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey will depart on April 29.

The already battered Kings XI Punjab will not have the services of fast bowler Brett Lee and Simon Katich, while another struggling team, Deccan Chargers, would have to bid adieu to Andrew Symonds.
Kolkata Knight Riders would loose Ricky Ponting.

The players are leaving to take part in a team training programme ahead of the Carribean tour.
New Zealand stars Jacob Oram would also leave the Chennai Super Kings camp early next month, to be followed by his team mates Daniel Vettori (Delhi Daredevils), and big hitter Brendan McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders)

With these departures there would be a perceived changes in the fortunes of the teams. South African big hitter Herschelle Gibbs would join the Deccan Chargers, while his skipper Graeme Smith will strengthen the ranks of the resurgent Rajasthan Royals.

Shane Warne will also have the services of Pakistan’s Younis Khan and Sohail Tanvir.

Chennai Superkings can take consolation from the fact that their bowling department will be strengthened with the arrival of Makaya Ntini this week.

Albie Morkel is also slated to join the Chennai Superkings. Will these changes affect the fortunes of the team? Only time will tell.

Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals is not in any great shape either, despite their victory against Kings XI Punjab – but they seem to be getting better alright.

A 9-wicket mauling by Virender Sehwag-led Delhi Daredevils at home ground has raised serious concerns about the cohesiveness of VVS Laxman’s talented bunch, after an initial rap in a shocker of pitch in Eden Gardens by Kolkata Knight Riders.

Nothing has worked so far for the famed Deccan Chargers, who were touted as the most formidable side by bookies, who would have surely changed the odds.

In fact odds are changing fast as the tournament progresses. Chennai Super Kings now emerges as top contenders along with Kolkata Knight Riders, with Delhi Daredevils, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Rajasthan Royals inching forward and Kings XI and Deccan Chargers slipping.

Mumbai Indians would be rated on the basis of their performance against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.

Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Venugopala Rao, VVS Laxman and big hitter Shahid Afridi were all failures so far for Deccan Chargers.

There were much expectations about the Aussies in particular in Deccan Chargers, with Andrew Symonds fetching the second highest bid of $1.35 million by the hyderabad franchise. Symonds went for 30 runs in an over in a Sehwag rampage and failed with the bat too. All of Adam Gilchrist’s experience did not help the Chargers either in their match against Delhi.

There was no devil in the Rajiv Gandhi stadium as Delhi Darevils captain Sehwag showed and hence Deccan Chargers have no one else to blame than their batting maestros for their abject failure to put up a big score.

While this may not necessarily be a verdict on the team, it requires tremendous grit to come back as a team, which the Deccan Chargers are capable of. Have the defeats affected the Hyderabad team for the worse, or do the battle-scarred veterans pull up their socks in the Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals match, we will know soon enough.

Shahid Afridi can be pardoned for the match against Delhi Daredevils was his first match, but the burden of expectations would weigh against him as Deccan Chargers take on Rajasthan Royals led by wizard of spin Shane Warne.

There are no demons in the Hyderabad wicket but Shane Warne can turn the ball and do all the tricks in any surface.

Deccan Chargers would have to earmark someone to have a go at him and turn his attention from the field to his own bowling and unsettle Rajasthan Royals. That is easier said than done, but Shahid Afridi might relish taking up that mammoth challenge.

Big hitting Aussie Shane Watson forced bookies to rewrite their priorities after an initial set back as he anchored an brilliant win for his team against the fancied Kings XI Punjab at Sawai Mansingh Stadium the other day.

Skipper Shane Warne would expect a repeat effort, but India discard Mohammad Kaif also has to fire for his team.

Afridi’s Pak team mate Kamran Akmal, now playing for Rajasthan Royals,  announced his intentions in his first match but needs to carry on and bring in some unorthodox shots to unsettle the Deccan Chargers.

Yusuf Pathan is another Rajasthan Royals batsman who has lived dangerously, but building partnerships also is vital in some match scenarios even if that means your strike rate dips. Playing all the 20 overs is vital as VVS Laxman himself admitted after the encounter with Kolkata Knight Riders.

Despite the scars of two successive defeats, Deccan Chargers are the better team in this tussle. Only that they have to bury their past shame, draw upon their collective experience and hit Rajasthan Royals hard. Deccan Chargers are still considered favourites purely on the merit of the treasure trove of talent on their ranks. Only that they have to fire.

Deccan Chargers Team
VVS Laxman, Andrew Symonds, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs, Chaminda Vaas, Scott Styris
Chamara Silva.
Rajasthan Royals Team
Mohammad Kaif,Yusuf Pathan,Shane Warne,Munaf Patel,Younis Khan, Justin Langer, Kamran Akmal, Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir, Morne Morkel, Graeme Smith.

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that its too early to predict which team would win the DLF IPL tournament. According to Dhoni, the team that gels well early would win the series.

MS Dhoni said, “The teams have played just one or two matches. You cannot make any assessment on this basis. There are lots of matches left. There will be ups and downs. The team which gels well throughout will be the winner.”

Dhoni has a point there. So far, the teams which looked like they were playing as a unit have won. Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers have looked haphazard so far, despite the presence of some experienced players.

Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians

The main problem that worries Mumbai Indians is the fitness of their captain Sachin Tendulkar. He missed the team’s first match against Bangalore Royal Challengers because a groin injury. It is not known till now whether Sachin would be able to play in tomorrow’s game against the Chennai Superkings. Harbhajan Singh had captained Mumbai Indians in the absence of Sachin.

If Sachin Tendulkar is absent, then it would be Harbhajan Singh who would be leading the side just like the last game. All eyes would be on the ongoing rivalry between Matthew Hayden, the Chennai Super Kings batsman, and Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians spinner. Well, it is not as bad as the rivalry between Harbhajan SIngh and Andrew Symonds for sure.

According to Dhoni, the start of DLF IPL has been just perfect. “The start has been great, Brendan McCullum’s batting has been a solid one. Fans also got what they wanted. They saw some huge sixes, dance by cheerleaders, teams piling up huge scores and bowlers taking wickets. It provided excitement for the fans.”

The Chennai Super Kings captain also rubbished the possibility of him opening the innings in tomorrow’s match. On the other hand, if Sachin Tendulkar is available for play tomorrow, we may get to see tendulkar opening with Sanath Jayasuriya – that would be an explosive combination.

Since the match would be played in Hyderabad, the Deccan Chargers could well have the so-called home advantage, playing in front of the home crowd. The most important thing to be noted here is the presence of Shahid Afridi, the explosive batsman from Pakistan joining the side for tomorrow’s match against the Delhi Daredevils.

The batting line-up of Deccan Chargers looks good on paper consisting of Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Y Venugopal Rao, Rohit Sharma and Ranji players D B Ravi Teja and Kalyan Krishna. Though captain VVS Laxman is not exactly Twenty20 material, one can expect him to score some runs, if he comes to bat in the middle rather than open the batting.

Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, the Aussie batsmen, are both aggressive and can well score some useful runs for the team. Considering the astronomical figure he got during the auction, Symonds would be readying up to live up to the expectations laid upon him.

Another batsman that could come to the rescue of Deccan Chargers is Shahid Afridi, the explosive Pakistani batsman who can take the match away from the opponents anytime.

Even the bowling line up of Deccan Chargers is quite strong with the likes of  Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas, R P Singh and the locay boy Pragyan Ojha, who was instrumental in his team’s efforts against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Delhi Daredevils, the Delhi franchisee of the DLF IPL and being led by Virender Sehwag, will have A B de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Asif, Tillakratne Dilshan and Abdul Razzak as the main batters.

The final teams for the game will be selected from:

Deccan Chargers: VVS Laxman (Captain), Scott Styris, Adam Gilchrist (WK), H Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Sanjay Bangar, Rohit Sharma, Chamara Silva, Y Venugopal Rao, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Haldhar Das (wk), D Kalyan Krishna, Pragyan Ojha, DB Raviteja, PM Sarvesh Kumar, R P Singh, P Vijay Kumar and Arjun Yadav. Coach: Robin Singh

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwari, Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Malik, Dinesh Kartik, Glenn McGrath, Mohammed Asif, Ferveez Meharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, Brett Geeves, Rajat Bhatia, Shikar Dhawan, Yo Mahesh, Tillakratne Dilshad, Abdul Razzak, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan, Amit Mishra, Tejaswi Yadav, A B de Villiers and Yogesh Nagar. Coach: Greg Shipperd.

Talking to the media, Andrew Symonds said “I must thank the owners for bidding for me in such a big way. It came as a surprise.” Symonds added that his ambition now is to win the tournament, and that he considers IPL a new frontier in cricket.

Symonds had his own opinion about the rumours and controversies about players who might abandon their national teams and international careers for IPL. There have also been talk of clashing schedules, and players opting for the cash-rich IPL over international games. “This is something that should never happen. I think the cricket boards and the ICC should see to it that there is a window for IPL,” said Symonds regarding the clash between international and IPL assignments.

When asked about sledging – his running battles with Harbhajan Singh ar now legendary – Andrew Symonds said that Twenty20 is very fast and there is no need to sledge.

The DLF IPL Twenty20 tournament starts on April 18, which means Ricky Ponting (Kolkata Knight Riders), Andrew Symonds (Hyderabad), Brett Lee ( Mohali) and Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings) would be able to play just more than two weeks in IPL.

The Aussie players are to depart for West Indies on May 8.

The Australians play three Tests, three One Day Internationals and a Twenty20 match in the Caribbean.

The logo and anthem of Deccan Chargers wwre also revealed. The logo would be a charging bull. “The Bull signifies strength, power and aggression,” said J. Krishnan, president and CEO of Deccan Chargers.

During the unveiling function, VVS laxman, captain of Deccan Chargers, expressed confidence that his team is a balanced side.

The team also includes foreign players Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas ad Nuwan Zoysa (Sri Lanka).
Indian team’s fielding coach Robin Singh will be the coach of Deccan Chargers.

Robin Singh would be assisted by Kawaljit Singh, Shishir Hattangadi and Vijay Mohan Raj.

The Deccan Chargers Hyderabad IPL team is owned by Deccan Chronicle newspaper.

The official Deccan Chargers website can be viewed here.

Aussie spin wizard Shane Warne , who will captain and coach Jaipur IPL team, says the DLF IPL Twenty20 tournament would not be an acrimonious affair, despite India’s controversial tour of Australia.

The Austalian tour had been a much charged-up affair following a spate of controversies including the racism charges levelled against Harbjahan Singh and his show-downs with Andrew Symonds and Mathew Hayden.

Andrew Symonds and Mathew Hayden will play for Hyderbad and Chennai IPL teams respectively. Indian captain MS Dhoni too will play alongside Hayden in Chennai Super Kings – that should be fun!

But the spin wizard is not impressed with the controversies on the field. Shane Warne thinks the teams would have handled the charged-up atmosphere a bit differently.
Shane Warne also said Australia should opt for Victoria’s Bryce McGain as a future prospect, adding Stuart MacGill would bounce back to form.

The Australian media have pointed to a serious spin lacunae in the line-up as a cause for concern after Shane Warne retired.

Andrew Symonds’ knockout punch to streaker Robert Murray David Oglivie had the potential to earn him a ban for a few matches, but the Aussie batsman, who would also feature in IPL Hyderabad team, has escaped.

In Brisbane, Andrew Symonds knocked down the streaker while the latter was trying to evade security personnel on his trail, during the second final of the Commonwealth Bank series, which India won.

Ogilvie did not complain about Andrew Symmonds with ICC or police. If he had done that, Andrew Symonds could have been charged with assault of spectator. But Cricket Australia officials said Andrew Symonds was well within his rights to knock down the streaker as he was in danger of being hurt.

Ogilvie on his part was fined Australian $ 1,500 by the Brisbane Magistrate Court. Another reprieve for Andrew Symonds, who has been in the eye of the storm this season for all the wrong seasons.

Mumbai team was the top grosser with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, the country’s top private firm, pumping in a record $111.9 to win team ownership. Bangalore team went to Vijay Mallya’s UB Group for $106 million. Apart from this, the team owners spent more than $36 million to buy 75 international stars.

Vivian Richards, who is associated with Sir Allen Stanford, the promoter of Twenty20 in the Carribean, said such competitions make players financially secure. Vivian Richards also said Aussie player Andrew Symonds’ (Hyderabad team) massive valuation of $1.35 million (Rs 5.5 crore) was fair enough.

Hyderabad captain VVS Laxman has also backed Andrew Symonds, describing the Aussie as a big asset to the team and a match winner.