Mid table maestros: SRH and RCB

Indian Premier League, the most lucrative tournament in world cricket. In IPL, overseas players can win matches but it’s the Indian players who will win the tournament. Here in this article, we will have few insights of two IPL teams who neglect this fact and struggle mid table season after season after season. Cricket is game of 11 players and only 4 overseas can play in any IPL team this provides more than enough evidence on the importance to grow Indian talent which these teams never did. It’s about two substantially big south-Indian clubs Sun Risers Hyderabad (previously Deccan Chargers) and Royal Challengers Bangalore. These are clubs Owned by South India’s identities Sun Group and Kingfisher group respectively, no shortage of finance. Marquee players such as Gayle, Gilly, Symonds, Gibbs, ABD, Steyn, KP, Warner, Starc, Taylor, JP Duminy, Sanga and many more world beaters played for SRH and RCB. Still, why can’t these teams which possess proven game changers in their ranks, grind out results and finish consistently in Top 4 with a champion’s league berth? Why nothing substantial to show in their trophy shelves? May be, by the end of this article we will try to find answers. Before that, a quick insight on what could we expect from these two teams during IPL 2015.

Sun Risers Hyderabad (Previously Deccan Chargers): This team show sharp contrasts, with great overseas players and not even mediocre Indian players. Overseas players were shuffled again and again along with Indian players who never seem to step up to attain team balance which was not attained. Steyn (Amit Mishra to some extent) shouldered the whole team for seasons. They don’t buy players with intent or clear plan on what to expect from these players. As many as, 92 different players played for this franchise at a staggering rate of 10.75 new players inducted in to the team every season, clearly indicating the lack of trust in the crop of players picked and definitely ‘NO’ backing for the players. They do not have an inspirational leader to marshal the troops and motivate them to punch above their weights. Surprisingly they tested 7 different captains (highest in the league), still did not find the answer to break the jinx. Not to be so critical on the owners, the players never really stepped up their game to IPL standards. In recent auctions, SRH scouts seem to show intentions to address this a bit. Irrespective of the fact SRH brought in a few decent Indian faces, if they have ambitions to move above the bottom half, they still have to bank on David Warner. Bulk of their home matches, scheduled to be played at Vizag (double paced wicket), certainly doesn’t seem to suit Warner’s flamboyance. Expect some low scoring games, where the match becomes watchable only during last 5 overs of the second innings.

Key Players: David Warner, Steyn, Boult and Bopara. If SRH has ambitions to finish above bottom two they will have to expect these stars to deliver day in day out, big ask indeed.

Indian Corner: Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvi and thinking… still thinking… Can’t find any! Shikhar is doing alright, he can win matches on his day but it’s disappointing that his day doesn’t come often. Bhuvi is framing in to a good prospect; he is punching above his expectation with respect to death bowling. Bhuvi can utilize this IPL2015 as an opportunity to cement his place in the Indian team. Praveen kumar was included in the SRH mix this year, he seem to have lost his prime may not be a prospect for Indian team but still a handy bowler. Nevertheless if he makes himself fit and available for selection for a longer period, he can bowl some crucial overs for SRH.

Surprise Package: Chama Milind, a left arm quick bowler who led the Indian pace attack during Under19 World cup. Not too much success to show in his first class appearances, but in shorter formats he is a handy customer. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament T20 tournament (Prestigious domestic T20 tournament in India), he finished top of the wicket takers list with 17 wickets at an average of 14.58 are good numbers to have in his resume. IPL has the responsibility to bring out raw Indian talents, hope Milind gets a SRH cap this time around.

Expected finish: If IPL is conducted like a Football Premier League, Sun risers/Deccan Chargers would have been relegated two seasons ago and will be a side fighting for promotion as a Second Tier Championship side. As said, I do not expect Sun Risers to finish above bottom three.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:  Batting heavy, too heavy! A much settled batting unit. Except losing out Manish Pandey on the auctions, I do not have any complaints with their ability to retain the batting crux. Unfortunately, the Crux has been the overseas players. Gayle, ABD and the self proclaimed greatest ever Indian Player, who claims that he won more matches for Team India than any other Indian player. Virat Kohli seemingly lost his mind. For a season or two RCB played Dilshan, Gayle, ABD, Kohli top of the order and no other decent batsman to follow making them a top heavy batting unit. They rotated 4^th overseas player spot trying to find a good bowler, which they never seem to acquire. Irrespective of the settled batting lineup RCB have tried more than 82 players with at least 10 new faces every season, clearly showing they didn’t have any other player outside Big 3 to rely on. They believed they can bat out the opposition every game, realistically impossible. Part of the blame will go to the Chinnasamy stadium, their home ground where the opposition bowlers will be bullied heavily by RCB’s Big 3.  RCB management did a real good job in making the fans to get convinced that seeing boundaries and sixes are more satisfying than to grind out crucial away results and win trophies. They have a poor Win-loss ratio 0.98 (52 wins and 53 losses) second last in the league with DD doing the honours at the bottom with a ratio of 0.75 which is incredibly poor (Thanks to Cricrace team for not asking me to write about DD and saved some grace for that IPL franchise). RCB’s away woes are a major contributor to its poor Win to loss ratio. 

During the auctions this time around, they brought in a few decent Indian talents. Notably, Dinesh Karthik who is a handy keeper and a decent finisher along with Subramanian Badrinath who is an expert in performing the role of sheet anchor with his eyes closed. I’m getting a feeling that RCB is trying to build a squad to win the derby game against CSK in MA Chidambaram stadium-Chepauk with both Karthik and Badri played majority of their List A matches at MAC-Chepauk. RCB managed to win only one of their 6 encounters against CSK at MAC and was embarrassed on many other occasions. Nevertheless there is no notable inclusion in the bowling department. If the opposition plays out 4 overs of Mitchel Starc(if he is available) they are bound to get 16 freebie overs! Abu Nechim, Dinda, Harshal patel, Aaron, Chahal and few more bowlers are recruited to bowl those 16 overs, a very weak unit indeed!  With all fairness, I still see them bowling Average to Poor deliveries more often than good ones.

Key Players: Gayle, ABD, Virat, Karthik, Starc. If Starc can bring his World Cup form in to the tournament, it could be vital exposure for raw Indian talents to hold their bat against the World’s most feared bowler.

Indian Corner: Virat Kohli, next big thing in Indian Cricket has to prove his mettle both as a player and a captain. I would like to see him, stop giving any press statements and stay quite on Twitter to avoid more embarrassments for the time being. He as, India’s Test captain is expected to turn up for the Indian team as a responsible leader with a cool head. Taking the mantle is a huge honor and big time pressure as well. Kohli has to stay calm and focus on his game than anything else. He is certainly going through a rough patch.

As MSD hanged his boots for test matches, it provides a huge opportunity for Dinesh Karthik to stake his claim back in to the Indian Team as first choice keeper. Karthik came in to team before MS, eventually losing out his place with some awful performances and became the second choice for majority of his career and warmed benches. Currently Karthik is in a situation of “Now or Never”. It’s up to Karthik to make it count. 

Surprise Package: Sarfaraz Khan, 17 year old hard hitting batsman came in to limelight during the Under19 World cup. He has a range of strokes and has the ability to clear the boundaries with ease. In the U-19 World cup he scored 211 runs at an average of 70.33 with a strike rate of 105.50. He is a prized asset to be groomed for the future. Not sure if he will be getting a game. Hopefully, RCB will do justice to its responsibility in grooming Sarfaraz.

Expected finish: If RCB’s Big-3 can grind out a couple of crucial away wins, they can be in the battle for the 4^th place. Otherwise, they would be comfortably sitting mid-table fifth or sixth position. They will have to play out of their skin to claim the "Kaveri derby" honours at MAC-Chepauk, seems most unlikely on current form.

As said, non-availability of quality Indian talent is the biggest cause for these franchises, to be struggling mid table. Could say, they never had any calculative acquisitions. They just splashed money, there has to be decent knowledge, clear-cut plan on what kind of player is needed for the team and go for that player rather than splashing on stars. I always have an admiration for Rajasthan Royals on their performances every auction. With limited budget available they do a great job every time.

IPL is more significant this time, with a few places opening up in the Indian team and no real-quality bench strength there are a few places up for grabs.

Let’s see who makes most of it!

Until then, have a good one!