The IPL semi-finals are due to start tomorrow and with the matches being knock-outs from this point on, the championship could be anybody's. Rajasthan played well as a team, Punjab looks solid, Chennai was good in patches, Delhi seems to have a good blend of batting and bowling resources. I am going to root for my home team Chennai and I won't be surprised if Dhoni pulls a trick or two as a captain.Hyderabad Deccan Chargers - This is the team that started as real hot favorites before the tournament, but still ended up at the bottom of the table. They probably went with the theory that "T20 is batsman's game" by not picking good front line bowlers and that clearly let the team down. They need to get some quality bowlers in their line up before the next IPL edition to have any chance of putting up a decent show.
Bangalore Royal Challengers - This is the first team to show signs of jitters both on and off the field, and rightly so. I really feel bad for Dravid, who inspite of finishing in the top 10 in terms of scoring most number of runs at the end of league stage, is almost looked at as "the culprit" for RC's debacle. He probably had a bigger learning curve as a captain in this format and that coupled with poor final playing XI selections probably let his team down.
Kolkata Knight Riders - This team went with "Star Value" when it came to team selection, did not bother to even test some of the players before sending them back home mid-way through the tournament. IMHO, KKR had no control on any of the matches they played after the initial flurry of wins. The performances of Ishant Sharma, David Hussey, Ricky Ponting clearly showed that the star value does not always automatically deserve the super heavy price tag.
Mumbai Indians - If this team wants to have any serious chance of winning IPL next time around, they should let Shaun Pollock lead the team and have Tendulkar concentrate only on his batting. They really should have won both against Punjab and Rajasthan and I am convinced that Tendulkar's captaincy had a huge role to play in the defeat against Rajasthan. He seems to talk too much to his bowlers and looks panicky at the first instance of pressure.
Delhi Daredevils - This is one of my favorite teams and as I said earlier they appear to have a good mix of bowling and batting options. I thought they were unlucky on couple of occassions (rain/DL method against Punjab and too close a match against Chennai), but overall you cannot complain too much about this team.
Chennai Super Kings - This team started as hot favorites along with Deccan Chargers and they deserve to be in semi-finals because they played the high pressure close games better and finished as winners. They did not have big names in bowling department (except for Murali), but they managed to find stars in Gony & back from injury Balaji. Dhoni is very impressive as captain and this team will be really strong next year if all the players are available for the entire tournament.
Punjab Kings XI - Yuvraj should feel really lucky for having Jayawardene, Sangakkara & Tom Moody in his team for strategy. Shaun Marsh is unbelieveable talent and their bowling seems fairly decent. Yuvraj does not impress me as a captain and if he continues his "hit or miss" batting form, he will soon lose his credibility as a player.
Rajasthan Royals - This team was not even in headlines after the team auction where they did not spend even minimum amount at the end of first round. Shane Warne is magical as player and more importantly as leader. The way this team performed clearly shows what shrewd leadership can do. Unfortunately this attribute was clearly missing on even some of our established icons. This team totally deserves all the praise and I think no one will complain even if they go on to win this tournament.
