IPL3 - Equations of a few teams

Kolkata Knight Riders:

There is something about Dav Whatmore. He is the Guus Hiddink of Cricket. The man behind SriLanka's World Cup triumph. The man behind Bangladesh's Semi-final journey in the world cup. And he is back to be the helping hand behind yet another struggling side - Kolkata Knight Riders. If he can make the Knight Riders win the IPL he can be called the God of Cricket coaching. Of course they also have the 'Sultan of Swing' Wasim Akram in their roster. A couple of foreign players still to join the team, may make it a bit stronger.

Besides, The problem with KKR is that their domestic players are a weak lot as compared to the other sides. They have excellent foreign players, but the cap of number of foreign players that can be fielded, brings no added advantage to them. With Souravda leading the side, he does make the side look like fighting tigers rather than a lot of Puchka's about to be eaten up. Shah Rukh Khan is thankfully staying away from the dug out. And that is good for the team.




Punjab Kings XI:
With Sangakkara, Jayawadene, Yuvraj, Shaun Marsh, Kaif, Pathan there to handle the batting and also a decent enough bowling side with Abdulla reverse swinging, Pathan and Chawla doing a decent job they look a very good side. Brett should be hopefully back soon. However, I think Preity Zinta is a big distraction for the dugout. If she stops being in the dugout,the chances of this team doing well will increase by few leaps if nothing else. There are youth in the team who can easily get distracted by the actress.. There is something that I feel is missing in this team, but for some reason I feel that they are going to perform well this season


Mumbai Indians:
My home team. Naturally I wish it wins. A good team this time around. Have a nack of under-performing. Hope they decide to break their habit this time.


Reasons why I feel Sachin shouldn't be leading the Mumbai Indians side:
1. He is too big a figure as a player: This leads to tension within the dressing room. He may be reckoned to be friendly and down to earth but due to his demi-god like status people tend to take him too seriously and the team doesn't seem to be a fun team which affects the performance of the team at the end of it. If youngsters want to give any suggestion they must be feeling too apprehensive to approach the master. If somebody fails and Tendulkar is miffed about that person for some reason then the feeling of a legend of the stature of Sachin tendulkar having a doubt about one's competency is not at all an easy feeling to handle.

2. Ability to handle the entire teams pressure: Tendulkar is a master batsman and is a class apart. He has been there in the business for 20 long years and has been consistently scoring runs. All due credit to his hard work, patience and ability to handle pressure. But, till I have observed, he doesn't seem to be too comfortable tackling the pressure applied on the entire team. That doesn't make him any less a team person or a competent performer, but it only means that he may be lacking in the leadership skills department.