IPL TRANSFER WINDOW

It’s finally here. The transfer window for the second season of the Indian Premier League begins tomorrow. There isn’t much hype about it and I doubt if most people are actually aware of it but once it gets underway it will be all over the papers. There will be moments of cheer when a high performer from one team moves to another and fans of the latter will feel a sense of betrayal only to be overshadowed by the entry of an equally better performer. Any player who has not made a single international appearance can be signed up any time while those who have done so can be signed up during the auction in February. My predictions on the likely moves by the franchises. 

The Fab Four- I am referring, not to Sachin-Dravid-Ganguly-Laxman but to the four teams that finished on the top of the IPL 2008 points table-Rajasthan, Chennai, Punjab and Delhi. These four teams are unlikely to make sweeping drastic changes to their squads given that most of their players had contributed quite significantly. There has  not been much news about specific names being targetted by other franchises but reports were abuzz that Sohail Tanvir of Rajasthan is being targetted by Bangalore for a hefty sum. Yesterday, Delhi signed up David Warner of New South Wales for his batting exploits in the ongoing Ford Ranger ODI domestic tournament in Australia. Rajasthan, Punjab and Chennai are more than happy with their present squads and will not offer their high performers easily, no matter how much money they are offered. Any new additions to the team would be seen as reinforcements for the already existing formidable forces. With the Pakistani players’ participation in doubt after the strained relations between the Indian and Pakistani governments, the absence of a player like Kamran Akmal of Rajasthan could be compensated by the presence of someone like Justin Langer (who did not participate in 2008 due to commitments with his English county team). 

The other half– Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai is said to be targetting Rohit Sharma from Hyderabad. If his move succeeds, it would result in the loss of an important cog in the Hyderabad wheel. If Tendulkar has his way, he could bring in dear friend Ajit Agarkar, after the latter lost his BCCI graded contract but has done well with the ball for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Mukesh might have made plans to sell off Luke Ronchi after the latter’s poor form in 2008 but would have changed his mind upon seeing his blazing performance against the West Indies. 

The Royal Challengers from Bangalore have already made changes to their management. Martin Crowe has been sacked as coach and Ray Jennings appointed in his place. Vijay Mallya is keen on bringing in Kevin Pietersen and was seen having frequent interactions with him during his stay in India. However Pietersen’s participation is subject to approval from the England Cricket Board and Mallya must be prepared for alternatives. He could look to buy Luke Pomersbach from Punjab given the already strong lineup that Punjab has. Or he could target one of Jayawardene or Sangakkara. At the end of the day what succeeds is a coach who can bring the best out of his team; one who can marshall his forces effectively; one who can bring out the best in players of calibre like Cameron White, Dale Steyn, Virat Kohli, Shreevats Goswami etc. 

Hyderabad, the Deccan Chargers, who finished last in the table in 2008 made some sweeping changes. It began with Deccan Chronicle selling off its stake in the team. It is not known yet who has offered to buy the team. Then captain V V S Laxman was sacked and Adam Gilchrist appointed in his place. Simultaneously coach Robin Singh was sacked in favour of Darren Lehmann (who had decided that he could do better than warm benches for Rajasthan). It is expected that Lehmann’s no-nonsense approach would be of great benefit to the team. Whether that succeeds, we will know in April-May. 

Sourav Ganguly’s men, the Kolkata Knightriders, recently signed up New South Wales batsman Moses Henriques. A coach in John Buchanan, a captain in Sourav Ganguly and the presence of dashing players like Ishant Sharma, Ricky Ponting, David Hussey, Salman Butt, Umar Gul and Shoaib Akhtar were no match for the other teams which chose to depend on talent rather than names. Buchanan gave his team “valuable” match practice during the later part of 2008 by making them travel to Brisbane and play against Queensland. Reports were abuzz that Andrew Flintoff is target no.1 for Shah Rukh Khan. In the 2008 season,Delhi chose to cut costs by sending off its cheerleaders while the Knightriders cut costs by sending off four of their players who were constantly in bench. Two of these were Cheteshwar Pujara and Ranadeb Bose. Given the two’s performances in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Ganguly would do well to make good use of them. 

The next few days would be  full of news about player transfers and this is all set to become something big on the lines of similar transfer windows in league football.