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Mudassir Ali
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Originally Answered: Which Team is favourite to win IPL 9 ?
I have divided the teams on their strength in ten broad areas of batting, bowling and presence of match winners.
In the table below:
Red(0): A problematic side. No proven players in the conditions. Inconsistency.
Yellow(1): Some what addressed area. Still lot of improvement required. Vulnerable at times.
Light Green(2): Almost secured area. Good players to address the need.
Dark Green(3): Proven match winners and specialists to do the job.
I have allotted 3 for dark green, 2 for light green, 1 for yellow and 0 for Red.
So, according to this, Mumbai Indians seems to have a very balanced side. Pune, RCB and KKR are also strong on paper. Delhi have a good side but they need proven match winners.
Here is the starting XI according to me for each side. There might be a few changes which I have noted:
Delhi Daredevils: In some matches, they might not play with Braithwaite and Morris together, Depending on pitch conditions, they might be tempted to include Coulter-Nile or Imran Tahir. Mayank Agarwal and Nair can be seen swapping places. Shahbaz Nadeem is a good perspective but DD might not play him over expensive Negi or Amit Mishra. It would be interesting to see if U-19 stars Pant, Lomror and Khaleel get chances to play. With Sir Dravid as mentor, we might very well witness that.
Gujarat Lions: Middle order is a problem. Praveen Kumar/ Sangwan may play against Dhawal Kulkarni. Tambe and Jakati might swap places. Bravo and Faulkner may share the spot. Or if they can risk a Dale Steyn, they might play both. D Smith, A Finch and BMac will be in the opening slot. We may see Dwivedi and Dogra exchanging places as well. I would be happy if Ishan Kishan (U19 India captain) is given a chance.
Kings XI Punjab: If they persist with Miller, Marsh and Maxwell, Abott and Mitch Jhonson would be sharing one spot. Gurkeerat and Rishi Dhawan might also contest among themselves. Cariappa is a good prospect but he might not play over Axar Patel. Shardul Thakur may play in place of Sandeep or Mohit Sharma.
Mumbai Indians: By far the most settled side. Buttler and Patel must play together (individual thought). But they might play Chand or Simmons as well. It will be difficult for other bowlers to replace Bumrah and Malinga. Bowlers like Southee, McCleneghan, deLange, Vinay Kumar will find it difficult. If Malinga is not fit, McCleneghan would be the first choice. However, I am very much excited to see if Nathu Singh is given a game.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Choices available between Russel/ Shakib, Munro and Lynn, Morkel and Holder. Though I believe the former three will make the cut. Shakib can be handy on turning Kolkata pitches though. Unadkat might play if Umesh Yadaav continues to misfire.
Pune Super Giants: Marsh, Albie and Perera will be preferred in that particular order. If they want to include Zampa, they would probably get rid of either of Faf/Smith or Pietersen and include S Tiwary/ Baba Aparajith. Ishwar Pandey might get a game or two in place of RPSingh or Ishant. Baba Aparajith is an interesting prospect.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Powerhouse of power hitters. There are so many options in the bowling department and I think they will continue to change people. Wiese, Milne, Badree , Richardson will be difficult to include in case Starc plays. Jadhav might play in place of Mandeep and if they wish to keep ABD out of the keeping job. Iqbal Abdulla, Parvez Rasool might swap places. There are so many permutations available for their bowling department.
Sun Risers Hyderabad: Toss between Boult and Mustafizur for sure. Hooda’s place will be experimented with Tare, Suman, Bhui, VShankar etc. Morgan and Henriques will share a spot.
My take on semifinalists: RCB, MI, RPS and KKR/DD.