Continuing from the previous piece, this one previews the chances of the Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers in the tournament.
The Deccan Chargers are currently at ten points from nine games and are lying at the fourth spot, to be followed by the Kings XI Punjab who are also at ten, but from ten games. The Royal Challengers have featured in ten games and have eight points.
The Chargers (7/1 at Coral to win IPL-II) began their tournament campaign with four straight wins in as many games, but since then have managed to clinch only one of their remaining five matches. Their only win in these games was against the Mumbai Indians, who now look to be the new whipping boys after the Kolkata Knight Riders.
This has mainly to do with the lack of form at the top of the order by both Herschelle Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist (12/1 at Victor Chandler to top batting charts), after showing a lot of initial promise. Same has been a problem with Rohit Sharma, who apart from that match where he scored a 38 and captured a hat-trick, has looked a trifle undercooked. Victor Chandler now offers 20/1 for Sharma to be the top run-getter at the end of the tournament, the possibility of which is as high as George Bush roaming around in the streets of Baghdad.
It is the bowling line-up that is more fiercely competed, with R.P.Singh (10/3 at Stan James to be top IPL bowler) currently at the top of the pile and the proud owner of the purple cap. The thing in his favour is that Yusuf Abdullah (9/2 at Stan James to be best bowler in IPL) has shown to have tapered off with his bowling and so have the Kings XI Punjab.
Coral offers 9/1 for the Kings to lift the crown, and despite their lacklustre and inconsistent performances so far, will now look a trifle more energetic with the injection of S.Sreesanth and Brett Lee. Sreesanth has returned back from injury, where as Lee flew down from UAE where he was a part of the Australian team facing Pakistan. Despite that, Abdullah is currently sitting pretty with 14 wickets in the tournament – compared to R.P.Singh’s 15 – and one good haul of scalps should get him moving back to the top.
The only issue here is the question which of the two – Deccan or Punjab – will get to the semi-finals, thus allowing its bowlers to play an extra game or two.
Yuvraj Singh (10/1 at Victor Chandler to be top run-scorer in the tournament) is listed as the third favourite to do so, but he is 142 runs behind the big man from Queensland, Hayden. To put that in perspective, Yuvraj Singh will need to play a couple of blinders in the next two or three games, and expect Hayden to come cropper; something that looks very distant currently.
The next piece will preview the chances of Bangalore Royal Challengers, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament.
