Spinners - ready to rule the roost in IPL

In a format that sounded the death knell for spinners, isn't it ironic that it is in fact the spinners who have held their own, so much so that they hold the trump card for most teams in the cash rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

With boundaries getting shorter, bats bigger and pitches flatter, spinners have had to constantly reinvent themselves more than their other illustrious counterpart. Fast bowlers can bowl faster deliveries or radically reduce speed and thus create deception. Spinners on the other hand have had to keep trying new things all the time in order to be counted. From the 'Doosra' to the 'Carrom ball' to going around the wicket to make sure the batsman has less room available to free his arms, it is the spinners who have continued to evolve and be effective and mystifying while fighting a battle for survival.

From Kolkata's Sunil Narine to Hyderabad's Amit Mishra to Punjab's Piyush Chawla et al, spinners have influenced the outcome of topsy-turvy Twenty20 matches that have invariably gone into the last over without an assured victor.

A glance at the overall economy rates for spinners vis-a-vis the faster men in each season indicates how well they have adapted to the requirements of this format.

Pace and spin in each IPL season so far
Season		Spin-balls		Wickets		Average		Econ. rate		Pace-balls		Wickets		Average		Econ. rate
2008		2981		134		30.38		8.19		9886		467		28.42		8.05
2009		4963		226		24.77		6.76		7978		388		26.25		7.65
2010		4943		210		28.80		7.34		8656		405		29.64		8.32
2011		6235		268		27.60		7.11		10166		470		28.12		7.80
2012		6118		241		31.35		7.41		11090		531		27.19		7.81

 

Barring the inaugural season of the IPL, the spinners have consistently had a much lower economy rate than the pacers in all of the other editions.

From being cannon fodder as previously thought, they are bowling in the Power Plays, which shows the extent to which a spinners' role has progressed. While in the first IPL, spinners bowled all of 30 overs during the Powerplays over the entire tournament, it is pertinent to note that in the 2012 edition, spinners bowled 211 overs during the same period, a seven-fold increase over 2008.

At the same time, of the 11 Hat-Tricks that have taken place in the IPL so far, 8 have been taken by the spinners (a record 3 times by Amit Mishra, brace by Yuvraj Singh, 1 each by Sunil Narine, Ajit Chandila and Rohit Sharma) while only 3 have been taken by the seamers.

It is clear that the notion of spinners being easy meat and finished article in T-20 has in fact been emphatically put to rest. What is unclear though is the impact twenty20 cricket is having on potential young spinners throughout the cricketing world. Well that is a different story altogether. For the time being, it is time to rejoice in the role and importance that spinners have been accorded in the IPL.

Rajasthan Royals : Proverbial Underdogs ready to bite in IPL 6

Who doesn't like the underdogs ? And when it happens to be Rajasthan Royals (RR), the likeability factor increases that much more. Easily the most frugal amongst all the teams in IPL, their modus operandi for all these years has been rather simple - Gamble with youngsters (in what they consider as potential match-winners) picked up rather cheap and hope they will fire.  Add a couple of elder statesman of the game  who are past their sell by date in the international arena and dare I add unwanted in any other franchise, buy unheralded foreign players (mostly Australian) who are not even established T-20 stars and retain someone, may I add just one, whom they consider their lynchpin in Shane Watson.  And of course make one amongst the grey haired players as the captain. And RR is all set to fight it out in the IPL edition.

While the unheralded and surreal success in the first edition of the IPL, under the astute leadership of Shane Warne made the whole cricket community stand up and take notice of the team, their performance in the years gone by (Rajasthan have failed to finish higher than sixth in the last four editions) has all but ensured  that memories of that triumph have become foggy; a distant achievement that seems more like a dream. Since then, Shane Warne has passed on the captaincy baton to another veteran in Rahul Dravid.

While it is true that being thrifty has been the norm of the franchise, their tactical blunder of letting go of their star all-rounders in Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja has hit them badly. Also their reluctance in picking T-20 specialists has made Rajasthan Royals, for the past couple of seasons, look like a team content in making up the numbers.

However, all that is set to change in the ongoing edition of the IPL. For starters, their ever dependable all-rounder Shane Watson is available for the entirety of the IPL season, unlike ever before. Trinidadian Kevin Cooper, for whom the last IPL edition was nothing less than a fairytale has successfully recovered from his knee fracture and is available for selection. The acquisition of James Faulkner who has lately been in sensational form, helping Tasmania to the Sheffield Shield title is undoubtedly going to add more teeth to their fragile bowling attack. In Shaun Tait, Samuel Badree and Siddharth Trivedi  along with Indian cricket's enfant terrible S. Sreesanth also in the mix, Rajasthan Royals' bowling arsenal looks as good as any team this time around.

Ajinkya Rahane and skipper Rahul Dravid again hold the aces when it comes to their batting. They emerged as a magnificent opening pair and provided them solid starts in most of the matches, in the last edition. While Dravid's achievements in IPL 5 were noteworthy, Rahane is their best bet after Shane Watson provided he gets his mojo back quickly. In Brad Hodge and Owais Shah they have two veteran Twenty20 batsman who can absorb pressure and accelerate the innings.

With the inclusion of some fine domestic talent in Sanju Samson, Rahul Shukla, Sachin Baby and Harmeet Singh, the team is already starting to show that it has buried the ghosts of the past editions.

Having already fashioned convincing victories (three victories in four matches) against more fancied oppositions, Rajastan Royals couldn't have hoped for a much better start in IPL 6. With the momentum clearly with the Men in Blue so early in the tournament, one is compelled to say that though history has an uncanny habit of repeating itself, will it be this time for Rajasthan Royals. Only time will tell..

All things CSK

So, the IPL mania is back again. With the sixth edition of the much revered and equally detested premier domestic cricket tournament about to commence amidst  seemingly unending controversies and a new title sponsor, this showpiece event sure promises a lot of action on-field besides its off-field theatrics.

Thus, it's naturally pertinent to focus on a team that has been the most consistent amongst all the franchises. And no marks for guessing, it is the yellow brigade-CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (CSK). Having  made it to the finals thrice in the last three editions and been crowned champions twice, it's the only IPL team to hold this coveted honor.

So what is it that makes CSK the powerhouse, that it is ?? For the critiques of the league and CSK in particular, it has a lot to do with some key personnel at the top. CSK is owned by India cements, whose Vice-Chairman and Managing Director is Mr. N Srinivasan.  For those living under a rock, and I doubt especially in India (how ironic is that !!), he is the President of the BCCI.  Having the captain of the Indian cricket team, heading CSK pretty much works as a combination destined for unmatched success or so they say..

But is it really that easy as it is made out to be? A closer look at how things work at CSK, might give us a better understanding of the whole issue.

Captain M S Dhoni and Coach Stephen Fleming have consistently maintained  the core team of CSK throughout the IPL editions. Retaining their key players who consciously make an attempt to do well for their team has emerged as a pivotal reason for their unprecedented success. Also it's noteworthy to note that CSK has made it to the semifinals in each edition of the tournament not because they have the best players with them but because they have most of the bases covered in the team. With a clear objective of making  the optimum utilization of the players, every player in the team has a clear description of his role and that makes decision making easier. Their batting revolves around Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, who have been dependable and consistent in the past. In Bravo, Sir( Ravindra Jadeja, who else!!) and Morkel they have three all-rounders who can provide the balance for the team coupled with some of the best fielders in the game in Suresh Raina, Sir again, Badrinath, Michael Hussey and many more. However, it's the bowling that is the weak link, and at the risk of sounding cocky, it is arguably the reason why they have been able to win only two editions.

Having said that, success brings its own windfalls. The CSK players will be only too happy to shed light on this. Players who have played  for this particular franchise – the likes of Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, besides skipper Dhoni, and to a lesser extent Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath – have had a clear edge over others in the race to make it to the folds of Team India.

Add to it the likes of players who managed to represent the national team from obscurity - Sudeep Tyagi, Gony, Joginder Sharma, Wridhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel and one would be tempted to wonder if being a part of CSK is the ultimate ticket for donning the Indian colours.

That said, CSK have bolstered their weakish bowling attack by bringing in Dirk Nannes (Aus), Ben Laughlin (Aus),  Akila Dananjaya (SL), Jason Holder (WI) and Christopher Morris (SA) as their foreign recruits along with signing a string of unheralded Indian bowlers ahead of the sixth edition of IPL.

With seemingly all of their bases covered, CSK undoubtedly is the team to beat in IPL-6.