After three seasons full of controversy, the IPL will be back in the spring with two new teams and numerous new players. Last week many players were put up for auction as the teams for the 2011 competition began to take shape. The auction broke previous IPL records, with Gautam Gambhir becoming the most expensive player in the tournaments history.
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| Hussey and Dhoni will again join forces |
Chennai Super Kings
Last season: Winners
Best finish: Winners (2010)
Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Star Man: Mike Hussey
Hidden Gem: Ravichandran Ashwin
Chennai have always been one of the most impressive sides in the IPL, and 2011 looks like it will be no different. They chose to keep hold of the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Albie Morkel, whilst they have bought back Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger. Added to the squad are Dwayne Bravo and Ben Hilfenhaus amongst others, whilst the off-spin of Ravichandran Ashwin could be critical if Chennai are again going to challenge for honours.
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| Pietersen will turn out for Deccan in 2011 |
Last season: 4th place
Best finish: Winners (2009)
Captain: TBA
Star Man: Kevin Pietersen
Hidden Gem: Shikhar Dhawan
After a disastrous campaign in 2008, the Chargers have impressed in the past two campaigns. However, the side has this year gone through a mass change of personnel, with the like of Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and VVS Laxman all being let go. Kevin Pietersen, Dale Steyn, Cameron White and Kumar Sangakkara have been brought in, and if they can obtain some good young Indians, then they could again be challengers.
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| Sehwag will have a massive job to do for Delhi to do well |
Delhi Daredevils
Last season: 5th
Best finish: Semi-finalist (2008, 2009)
Captain: Virender Sehwag
Star Man: Virender Sehwag
Hidden Gem: Colin Ingram
Delhi have always been one of the most dangerous sides in the IPL, and with Virender Sehwag at the top of the order, they always have a good chance of scoring large amounts of runs. However, during last week’s auction they failed to sign any massive names, with Morne Morkel and Irfan Pathan arguably the biggest. This season could be a struggle for the Daredevils.
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| Gilchrist has left Deccan to captain Kings XI |
Last season: 8th
Best finish: Semi-finalists (2008)
Captain: Adam Gilchrist
Star Man: Adam Gilchrist
Hidden Gem: Piyush Chawla
Kings XI were originally thrown out of the competition along with the Rajasthan Royals, but were brought back in after a court ruling. After finishing bottom last season, they could well struggle again after only making a small number of signings. Adam Gilchrist will captain a side including Stuart Broad and David Hussey, but will need some good young Indians to mount any type of challenge.
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| Muralitharan will turn out for new team Kochi |
Kochi IPL Team
Last season: N/A
Best finish: N/A
Captain: Mahela Jayawardene
Star Man: Muttiah Muralitharan
Hidden Gem: Ravindra Jadeja
Kochi are one of the two new sides in this year’s IPL, and have managed to acquire many big name players from around the world. The capture of Muttiah Muralitharan is the headline grabber, but VVS Laxman, Brendon McCullum and Sreesanth will all have to perform key roles if Kochi are going to do well in their debut season.
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| Gambhir attracted the highest price at the recent IPL auction |
Last season: 6th
Best finish: 6th (2008, 2010)
Captain: TBA
Star Man: Jacques Kallis
Hidden Gem: James Pattinson
Kolkata have the worst record out of all the eight original IPL teams, but this year splashed the cash, breaking the IPL auction record by buying Gautam Gambhir for $2.4million. Further signings of Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan mean the Knight Riders could find themselves in the latter stages of the competition for the first time.
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| Tendulkar will again lead Mumbai |
Last season: Runners-up
Best finish: Runners-up (2010)
Captain: Sachin Tendulkar
Star Man: Sachin Tendulkar
Hidden Gem: Davy Jacobs
Mumbai could be the team to watch in 2011, with Sachin Tendulkar again leading a side which consists of previous IPL stars Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard. Andrew Symonds’ signing will also excite the Mumbai fans, whilst South African wicket-keeper Davy Jacobs performed well in the 2010 Champions League.
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| Smith has moved from Rajasthan to Pune |
Last season: N/A
Best finish: N/A
Captain: Yuvraj Singh
Star Man: Graeme Smith
Hidden Gem: Callum Ferguson
Pune are the second of the new sides for this year’s IPL, and have equipped themselves well for a challenge on a debut title. Graeme Smith, Robin Uthappa, Jesse Ryder and Yuvraj Singh are all excellent Twenty20 players, whilst Callum Ferguson and Wayne Parnell add the exuberance of youth to the side. They could cause a few surprises.
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| Watson will be key to Rajasthan's chances |
Rajasthan Royals
Last season: 7th
Best finish: Winners (2008)
Captain: Shane Warne
Star Man: Shane Watson
Hidden Gem: Johan Botha
After the recent auction, Rajasthan only have a squad of eight men, meaning they are going to have to rely on young Indian players to step up to the mark. They are again led by Shane Warne, and the all-round talents of Shane Watson and Paul Collingwood may still not be enough for them to mount a serious challenge.
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| De Villiers has the potential to score big runs in IPL 4 |
Last season: 3rd
Best finish: Runners-up (2009)
Captain: TBA
Star Man: AB De Villiers
Hidden Gem: Cheteshwar Pujara
Bangalore are almost a totally new team compared to the team that appeared in the opening three seasons. Zaheer Khan, AB De Villiers, Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes have all been brought in as the Royal Challengers chase a first IPL title. Young Indians Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will be hoping to impress their national selectors with some good performances.
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