The Cup of Joy!! Reloaded

[Edit: This write-up of mine won the Super Blog contest at chennaisuperkings.com. Never knew my words will be worth 5k bucks one day. One more reason to love CSK!]

The finishing note on the last year's blog plug after CSK won IPL 2010 was "Hoping for more success for the Lions in the forthcoming seasons too. Fingers crossed". Looks like it's happening and the dream is coming true and how!?

Lot has been said and talked about Gayle's super powers but he went fishing when it mattered the most, the Grand Finale. But, it would be rude to put the blame on him. If there is one reason for RCB to be in the finals, it is him. They were trotting at the lower half of the Points Table before he joined the squad and then he blew everyone away by the Gayle Storm

Back to our very own CSK, wow! Just wow! An amazing and consistent performance throughout the tournament has made sure that we retain the cup for the 2nd year in a row. Mahi continues to prove that he can't do anything wrong. Quoting a tweet from a Twitter user yesterday "Dhoni is getting on a flight and flying to Wembly to win the Champions League" only goes on to show this man's tryst with destiny. It's as if he can turn any team into the most formidable one with his leadership qualities and a little bit of lady luck. All glory to you captain. Sincerely hoping that you never ever leave CSK! As noted by LSK, "Dhoni always receives the trophy and then disappears into the background" Could there be a better sign for a True leader?

When the victory lap was on and when I could see the distant glow of the flood lights at the stadium and hear the faint sound of the crackers from my home, I wished I was in the crowd somewhere cheering for the Team Stupendous.

Once again the yellow fellows proved that we are the 'Good boys' by winning the Fair Play award again this year.

Mr. Malinga has the Purple cap. Mr. Gayle has the Orange cap. But, we CSK have the Trophy. What else could we ask for?

And just as @Sidvee mentioned "I am waiting for the day ManU wins the league and someone says 'We want to be the Chennai Super Kings of the EPL'" Hoping that the day isn't far away :)

Like last time, here are a few numbers highlighting the best teams across the IPL seasons and needless to say CSK is on the top!

No.	Teams	IPL '08	IPL '09	IPL '10	IPL '11	Net worth	Avg
1	CSK	7	5	8	10	35	8.75
2	RCB	2	7	6	9	27.75	6.94
3	MI	4	2	7	8	24.25	6.06
4	DC	1	8	5	4	21.5	5.38
5	RR	8	3	2	5	21.25	5.31
6	KXIP	6	4	1	6	19.75	4.94
7	DD	5	6	4	1	19.75	4.94
8	KKR	3	1	3	7	15.75	3.94
9	KTK	-	-	-	3	3	3.00
10	PWI	-	-	-	2	2	2.00

The points are allocated as below:

10 pts for the Tournament Winners (8 for pre-IPL4)

9 pts for the Runners-up (7 for pre-IPL4)

8 for the loser of 2nd Qualifier or winner of 3rd place play-off (6 for pre-IPL4)

6 for the loser in Eliminator

5-1 for the rest of the teams according to their positions in Points table

The Net Worth will be the summation of points across the IPL seasons

The retention game

It's been 3 yrs since the IPL started. 2 more teams were supposed to be joining the league and the players are going to be auctioned off again. But the current teams (the final number is not decided yet) are being allowed to retain 4 players from their squad . Read somewhere that Chennai insisted the most on retention. If it's true, it has to be the MSD factor.


So here is a small write-up on the list of players who could possibly be retained by the teams.

CSK

Possibilities: Dhoni, Raina, Bollinger, Morkel, Murali, Hussey

So, who would be worth the $1.8 million retention fee for the 1st player? Few might say Dougie. But he wouldnt be a costly miss even if left out. There are other good (n also better) pacemen in the pool like Parnell, Tait, Steyn, Nannes etc who could be available (their franchise permitting) for selection.
Same goes for Morkel n Hussey too. Though they are good, they are not one of a kind. So they may not be retained. Murali would be an interesting choice. But given his age and not-so-match-winning contribution, he just might not be worth the huge compromise.
The only player I can see being readily taken is Dhoni. CSK has grown in such a way that the team has been built around this guy. So losing him would be like losing the axle/pivot of the team. He should be retained. Also Raina. He is the highest run getter across all IPL seasons and a worthy fit in the Indian-International slot.

Final cut: Dhoni and Raina

MI

Possibilities: Sachin, Pollard, Malinga, Zaheer/Bhajji

Sachin is in by default. For me, there is no MI without Sachin, plain and simple. As for others, it would be a tough choice. There would be a tempation to retain Pollard for obvious reasons. But this guy is a gamble. Malinga is one of the best T20 bowlers I have ever seen. And for me, he is more worthy than Pollard.
Bhajji has not been impressive compared to the success of fellow spinners in CSK (Ashwin and Murali). Zaheer has been a little rusty too after his injury. But he seems to have found his form recently. But I doubt whether the franchise wud b ready to spend such big money on him

Final cut: Sachin, Malinga/Pollard

DD

Possibilities: Viru, Gauti, Nannes, Collingwood

Again Viru is pivotal in the scheme of things for Delhi. So he could be there. Other than him I don't see anyone who have high chances of being retained. Gauti could make the cut, for his recent form in IPL. Nannes is one of the best bowlers in T20 but there are others too. There would be a temptation to retain Collingwood, the English T20 caption and a wonderful all-rounder.

Final cut: Sehwag

RCB

Possibilities: Kumble, Dravid, Kallis, Steyn, KP, Taylor, Cam White

It's one hell of a star-studded line up. Frankly, a very tough call to decide as who can be retained / let go. Reportedly the owners did a lot of ground work to form a succesful team after their poor show in Season1. So, wont be surprised if as much as 4 are retained.
Steyn is arguably one of the best bowlers now (any form of the game). KP has had a form slump. Kallis is ageing. Same with Kumble and Dravid too. It would be interesting to see whether they retain their captain Kumble. Taylor is an asset to any side

Final cut: Steyn, Taylor

DC

Possibilities: Gilly
Yes, you read it right. The one player who could be retained. But remember even this guy is over 38 yrs old

KKR

Possibilities: Ganguly, Gayle, Mathews

KXIP

Possibilities: Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Yuvraj
If they had been allowed to participate, players listed above might have been considered.

RR

Possibilities: Warne, Tait, Smith, Y Pathan
Same goes here too.

All said and done, hope IPL is able to stay ahead of all the problems and issues being faced now. Now, like all Cricket fans, waiting for the dust to settle down and the auction to start (last announced to be held on Jan 8/9).