Kolkata Summary
April 14th 2008 06:45
The Kolkata Knight Riders
First of all kudos for the best team name in the competition - I guess you could say they went with a regal theme like most of the other franchises but I rather think they named the team after the kooky 1980's television showwith David Hassellhoff and a talking super car named Kit.
In terms of squads I think this team is a little different in that it looks to be heavy on the quality quick bowlers and lighter on the batting. To be honest the top order batting almost seems like a dad's army and I don't think there are too many the other side of 30. Indian veterans Ganguly and Chopra are joined by Hussey and Ponting. Mind you Ponting is still one of the greats of the modrn game and will be a great pick up in this competition.
There are quite a few useful allrounders in this team led by big hitting West Indian Chris Gayle who will be a star in this competition. Also of note are the two talented batsman keepers - New Zealand's Brendan McCallum and Zimbabwe's Tatenda Taibu. At a pinch you could play both in the team.
The Slow bowling will be le by Indian Murali Karthik who has never scaled the hegihts of interntaional cricket so will have a lot to prove in this comp. Allrounders Gayle and Mohammed Hafeez can also provide spinning back up.
Where Kolkata have depth is in the fast bowling stocks - led by teenage Indian sensation Ifant Sharma and Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar this attack will be sharp. Add to that fellow pakistani quick Umar Gul and veteran Indian Ajith Agarkar and you start to see this teams bowling strength.
My question marks are still on the batting - After Ponting there is little genuine talent. But it is 20 Twenty so you never know.
Here's my dream team from this squad
1.Chris Gayle
2. Salman Butt
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Sourav Ganguly
5. David Hussey
6. Brendon McCallum/Tatenda Taibu (wk)
7. Mohammed Hafeez
8. Murali Karthik/Ajith Agarkar
9. Shoaib Akhtar
10. Ifant Sharma
11. Umar Gul
This is only what I think is the best XI from this squad and doesn't take into account the more specific rules of the IPL.
Keep rading this blog for Profiles and Summaries of the two reamining teams.
Then get ready for the competition to start on the 18th of April.
See you next time
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