Finally people were recovering from the Euphoria of the World Cup win, and we were introduced with IPL 4. So far in the last 3 seasons, IPL gathered too much excitement and crowd support but this season the same was lacking till sometime back. Come 1st May and IPL entered an interesting phase. Almost all teams in contention for a spot in the Play-offs, stakes were raised tremendously. All teams started playing their best 11 and tried some fruitful variations in their sides. Some teams started winning crucial matches (except for Pune Warriors India) and some teams like Mumbai Indians and Chennai SuperKings showed their true class in all the matches (barring a couple of hiccups). Fringe players started coming to the party and senior and international players showed their worth too.
With more than half of tournament already done and almost all teams left with 4-5 matches to prove their worth and enter the play-offs, I feel that Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai should easily make it to the play-offs and the 4th team can be anyone except for Pune giving equal chance to all the teams to still make it to the play-offs and making the tournament more interesting. The addition of 2 teams has already spiced up things where Kochi is proving that it is no walkover side.
All the Indian players who were the part of the World cup squad are playing well for their respective sides. Nehra is injured which is actually a good news for Pune, yet they are not performing. Even their captain, Yuvi who was a special talent during the World cup has a few off days and Pune are sinking down. Sreesanth blows hot and cold at the same time keeping him at his unpredictable best. Chawla too is the same way around. YK Pathan was out of form at the start of the tournament but has picked up his game in last couple of matches for KKR. MSD is turning out to be a good leader and under him World cup winners Raina and Ashwin are doing a great job. Sachin too is leading from the front and under him Bhajji has found his touch back and Munaf has matured a lot as a player. For Delhi, if Sehwag plays, they win else it is all over for them. Gautam Gambhir is turning out to be a good captain for KKR and he is producing results for them. Even Kohli and Zak are performing as expected for Banglore which shows their class.
Apart from them, many cricketers who have lost the faith of the selectors are playing well and need a chance for comeback and some new talent is on display at this IPL. Every IPL there have been few players who become famous in no time and perish too in no time. But some play with consistency and are rewarded accordingly (viz. Vijay, Ashwin, Saurabh Tiwary, YK Pathan etc.). This IPL too, many new names and some old faces have come up with some good show and an actual chance to play for the Indian team. India next tours the West Indies and many senior players including captain cool MSD have requested for a break which the BCCI are more than happy to approve as face it, these players have won the World cup for us and they do deserve a break. Sehwag is waiting for the IPL to get over to undergo a shoulder surgery. Even Sachin will take a break from the Windies tour. Raina, Kohli, Zak too might get a break. In such circumstances there is a very high chance that the ultra-aggressive Gambhir might lead India in the Windies. But this break for the senior players will open the doors for many new and old faces.
In the batting department, Utthappa has been playing consistently for Pune and same is the case with Rayudu for Mumbai. In fact Bhajji has claimed that Rayudu can fill in the number 3 slot which will be vacated by Dravid post his retirement very easily. Rohit Sharma was inconsistent with the Indian team but every IPL he raises hopes of all his followers. This time too, he has played some brilliant innings for Mumbai so far. He was always dubbed to play a Sachin like innings for India once Sachin retires. I just feel that he should keep his temperament in check. Ashok Menaria has been a stable middle order player and a useful wrist spinner for Rajasthan Royals and he was the key member of the Ranji trophy winning Rajasthan team in 2011. Even he could get a look in the side. Manoj Tiwari for KKR and Venugopal Rao for Delhi have played some crucial innings and they are ready to knock the Indian team doors again. Parthiv Patel too has been batting and keeping well for Kochi and there is no harm to try him in absence of MSD. Even if he fails, there is Rayudu and Utthappa as makeshift keepers who can work behind the stumps. Murli Vijay too has been out of the ODI and T20 format of late and his performances for CSK can do him a world of good. A stable Badrinath in the middle orders for CSK is surely banging the door of the Indian team now and with Srikkanth as chief selector, there is a good chance that Badri might get a chance for come back. Younger players like Valthaty, Aniruddha Srikkanth, Sunny Sohal, Manish Pandey, T Suman, Chateshwar Pujara etc. too can find some favor in the team.
We can also talk about all-rounders like Jadeja to find a place back as he has been hitting consistently and bowling well this IPL. Even Raiphi Gomez for Kochi has been a good find. With bowlers we had some old stalwarts like Agarkar, RP Singh, Balaji, Irfan Pathan who have shown some magic this IPL. RP Singh looks the best of the lot to make a comeback into the Indian side. Agarkar has got way too many chances for the Indian team now but he has made a mess of it many times. Personally, I like Agarkar and have always been a fan of his bowling and would like to see him in the Indian Blue for 1 last time atleast. Even at this age, he can bowl consistently at 135-140kmph very easily. And his Yorkers at the death with the old ball are still a treat to watch. New bowlers like Unadkat, Parmeshwaran, Iqbal Abdullah, Ali Murtuza, Abu Nechim are spicing up the competition. A certain Rahul Sharma keeps on getting wicket of Mr. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar consistently and has been bowling very economically this IPL. He alongwith Amit Mishra are better leg spinners in India today and they do deserve a chance in the team. I favour Sharma more because of his height and his sense to flight the ball with the use of his height to bounce the ball makes him unplayable at times. Even Abdullah and Murli Kartik can be good left arm wrist spinners for the Indian team. Players like Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun are blowing their chances this IPL.
I am sure I might have missed out on some names in this blog which my readers will quickly point out to me. But this blog is a reflection of my views of which players from this IPL are worth taking a risk with for the Indian team in the West Indies. This series will be an ideal platform for players who wish to make a comeback or who want to leave a mark for the selectors to make an impression. Ideally, I would like the selectors to retain a couple of players from the World Cup winning squad and try maximum of the players mentioned in this blog. This will surely increase our bench strength and will fill up the void which will be left in the Indian team at the retirement of some true LEGENDS of the game…