Dhoni's army is ready to go to England to defend their crown as the T20 world champions. And as a matter of fact they had a long preparation camp for 37 days in South Africa. Yes, I'm talking about IPL Season 2. Here is an analysis of how the Members of India's T20 World Cup Squad Fared in IPL-2
1.Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket Keeper & Captain, India & Chennai Super Kings)
332 runs in 14 games 13 innings. Avg: 41.50, SR: 127.20 H.S: 58* vs Deccan Chargers, 2 fifties. Took 4 catches and stumped 4 batters.
It was a typical Dhoni show. His team weren't in the best of form, especially his bowlers and fielders were so poor. The skipper himself looked a bit inconsistent at times, but somehow he was able to lead and inspire his team to a semifinal berth as the second placed team in the league stages. Played couple of magnificient innings against Deccan and Kings XI and was at his elements as a captain in close games against Delhi, Rajastan Royals and Kings XI. Had a 24% dot ball ratio as a batsman, lowest among all batters. Was off-colour in the semifinal both as a skipper and a batsman in the Semifinal loss against Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Marks out of 10: Dhoni the Captain 7/10, Dhoni the Player 6/10; Average 6.5/10
2.Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain, India & Captain, Delhi Daredevils)
198 runs in 11 games 11 innings. Avg:19.80 SR:143.47 H.S: 50 vs Mumbai Indians, 1 Fifty. Bowled 1 over and was taken for 25 by Gilchrist. Took 3 catches.
Sehwag started the tournament with a bang. Scored 38 off 16 balls against Punjab Kings XI to lead his team to a 10 wicket win in a Rain Shortened Game. Then he went off the boil, played too many shots and got out early. Missed 4 gamed due to a broken finger. Found form with a 50 off 27 balls against Mumbai in the last league game. Delhi Dare Devils were the most balanced team of IPL 2. So despite the failure of Sehwag and his famous opening partner Gambhir, Delhi made their way to semifinals, living up to the pre-tournament favorites tag. A magnificient assault from Deccan Chargers Skipper Adam Gilchrist denied them of a final birth.
Marks out of 10: Sehwag the Player 3/10, Sehwag the Captain 4/10; Average 3.5/10
3. Gautam Gambhir (Opener India & Stand-in Captain, Delhi Daredevils)
286 runs in 15 games 15 innings. Avg:22.00 SR: 102.87 H.S: 71* vs Kolkatta Knight Riders, 1 fifty. Took 2 catches in the tournament.
India's best batsman in the first T20 World Cup in South Africa. India's Leading Run Scorer in all forms of cricket in the past 18 months. 534 runs in IPL-1. A devestating opening partnership with Sehwag. All pointed towards some sensational performances. But it was not the case. Despite a scratchy 71* (he was reprived by the umpire on 45) and a near convincing 47 against Mumbai Indians, Gambhir was an utter failure. Lead his team well when Sehwag was nursing an Injury.
Marks out of 10: Gambhir the Player 3/10, Gambhir the Captain 4/10; Average 3.5/10
4. Harbhajan Singh (Off Spinner, India & Mumbai Indians)
84 runs in 13 games 10 innings. Avg: 10.50 SR: 158.49. H.S: 20 vs Deccan Chargers. 12 wickets in 13 games. SR: 22.00 Avg: 21.33 ER: 5.81 BB: 4/17 vs Delhi Daredevils. Took 3 catches
In a tournament dominated surprisingly by Slow bowlers, Harbhajan was not at his best. Not so well used by his skipper Sachin Tendulkar at times, Bhajji's 4/17 in a loosing cause against Daredevils and a magnificient spell of 4-0-9-1 against Kings XI Punjab were standouts. He bowled economically but always lacked creativity.
Marks out of 10: 5/10
5.Ravindra Jadeja (All-rounder, India & Rajastan Royals)
295 runs in 13 games 13 innings. Avg: 26.81 SR: 110.90 H.S: 42 vs Mumbai Indians. 6 wickets in 13 games. SR: 23.30 Avg: 25.16 ER: 6.47 BB: 3/15 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. Took 4 catches.
Jadeja was his teams top run scorer. He came up with useful contributions to a medicore batting line up, without really making a huge contribution. Took 6 wickets with his left arm spin and was brilliant on the field. Failed miserably to live up to the reputation he created during 2008/09 Indian Domestic season where he was the best all rounder by a fair margin with 739 runs and 42 wickets.
Marks out of 10: 5/10
6. Zakeer Khan (Fast Bowler, India & Mumbai Indians)
8 runs in 6 games. 6 wickets in 6 games. SR: 21.00 Avg: 23.66 ER: 6.76 BB: 3/31 vs Kolkatta Knight Riders. Took 2 catches.
Zak, India's pacebowling spearhead these days had steady 6 games before injuring his left shoulder in a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His absense made a huge impact in Mumbai's semifinal hopes since He and Malinga bowled some good opening and death spells. Although his tally of 6 wickets including 3 in one game was not up to the high standards he sets for himself.
Marks out of 10: 3/10
7. Praveen Kumar (Seam Bowler, India & Royal Challengers Bangalore)
65 runs in 13 games 8 innings. Avg: 13.00 SR: 141.30. 13 wickets in 13 games. SR: 22.9 Avg: 30.30 ER: 7.93 BB: 3/30 vs Delhi Daredevils. Took 1 catch.
The angry young man got his team off to a great start with a magnificient opening spell against Rajastan Royals taking two crucial wickets. With Kumble taking 5 wickets for 5 runs BRC got off to a dream start by bowling the defending champions out for 58. BRC won only 2 out of their first 6 matches under Kevin Pietersen, but made it to the finals by winning 9 out of the 7, including the semifinal, after Kumble became the captain. Praveen was trusted by Kumble but he was brilliant one over and ordinary in the next. His 20 run over in the final against Deccan proved to be the difference in the end as BRC fell short by 6 runs.
Marks out of 10: 4/10
8. Pragyan Ojha (Left Arm Spinner, India & Deccan Chargers)
1 run in 15 games 4 innings. 18 wickets in 15 games. SR: 17.8 Avg: 19.33 ER: BB: 3/21 vs Mumbai Indians. Took 2 Catches
Ojha was the best Indian spinner on show. (Barring Anil Kumble). His three wickets in the final were good but his 3 wickets against Mumbai Indians, including the prized wickets of Sachin and JP Duminy was one of the spells of the tournament. Missed a match due to injury. The way he lured right handers out of the crease to have them stumped by Gilchrist and the celeberation after that were common sights in this IPL and are sights to behold for a hardcore Indian fan.
Marks out of 10: 6/10
9. Irfan Pathan (All-rounder, India & Kings XI Punjab)
196 runs in 14 games 12 innings. Avg: 19.60 SR: 124.05 HS: 39 vs Rajastan Royals. 17 wickets in 14 games SR: 17.7 Avg: 22.94 ER: 7.74 BB: 3/35 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. Took 4 catches.
Not flattering numbers, but weren't bad either. Formed a good bowling combination with Yusuf Abdulla and Brett Lee and was Punjab's highest wicket taker. Got his famous swing back but the pace was in the mid 120's and early 130's. Played couple of crucial innings down the order against Rajastan Royals and Delhi Daredevils, both turned out to be match winning contributions.
Marks out of 10: 5.5/10
10. Yusuf Pathan (All-rounder, India & Rajastan Royals)
243 runs in 13 games 13 innings. Avg: 20.25 SR: 132.78 HS: 62* vs Delhi Daredevils, 1 fifty. 7 wickets in 13 games. SR: 30.00 Avg: 34.71 ER: 6.94 BB: 3/34 vs Deccan Chargers Took 2 Catches.
Pathan Sr was a mere shadow of the entertainer who took the inaugural IPL by Storm, with 435 runs at a strike rate of 179 and 8 wickets. Played couple of Match winning hands with a brutal 62* off 30 balls vs Daredevils and a 21 ball 42 followed by a 4 ball 18 in the superover against Kolkatta Knight Riders. His skipper put extra pressure on him by asking him to come down the order and hit at a rate of 10 an over, and Yusuf struggled. Did a respectable job with the ball, at times opening the bowling.
Marks out of 10: 4/10
11. Suresh Raina (Batsman, India & Chennai Super Kings)
434 runs in 14 matches 14 innings. Avg: 31.00 SR: 140.90 H.S: 98 vs Rajastan Royals, 2 fifties. 7 wickets in 14 games. SR: 23.70 Avg: 23.42 ER: 5.92 BB: 2/17 vs Kings XI Punjab. Took 7 catches.
Raina was one of the Sucess stories of the last IPL and he didn't dissappoint this season too. Scored valuable runs at the top of the order to back up Matty Hayden, who smacked 572 runs, and was a surprise package as a bowler with his off spinners, bowling some tight death overs. A magnificient 98 vs Rajastan Royals (the scoreboard flashed he was on 100 and Raina played a careless shot next ball and got out thinking he was the first Indian to score an IPL ton) was an innings to remember.
Marks out of 10: 7/10
12. Ishant Sharma (Fast Bowler, India & Kolkatta Knight Riders)
16 runs in 11 games. 11 wickets in 11 games. SR: 23.4 Avg: 27.00 ER: 6.90 BB: 2/15 vs Bangalore Royal Challengers. Took 1 catch.
His agression and committment was the only positive for the Wooden Spoon winners Kolkatta Knight Riders. Still lacked consistency and was poor at the death. Easily KKR's best bowler by miles and was rested for the last 2 games. Surprisingly KKR won both matches. (They won only 1 out of the 11 he played). His spat with Yuvraj was one of the not so good incidents of the season.
Marks out of 10: 3.5/10
13. Rohit Sharma (Batsman, India & Deccan Chargers)
362 runs in 16 games 16 innings. Avg: 27.84 SR:114.92 HS: 52 vs Bangalore Royal Challengers, 1 fifty. 11 wickets in 16 games. SR: 12.5 Avg: 14.63 ER: 7.00 BB: 4/6 vs Mumbai Indians. Took 5 catches.
Has Rohit atlast arrived at the Big Stage?? May be not. But was the most sensational player of the IPL. Runs a plenty, useful wickets, a match winning Hattrick, brilliant fielding...what else you want. Rohit provided everything. Hit 26 off the last over in a tight chase against KKR to win the match. He almost did it again vs Punjab in a 1 run loss when he hit 42 off 26. Was tidy with his off-spinners and bowled a dream 2-0-6-4 spell against Mumbai Indians, which included a hattrick. Rightly named the City Under-23 Sucess of IPL2
Marks out of 10: 7.1/10
14. Rudra Pratap Singh (Fast Bowler, India & Deccan Chargers)
8 runs in 16 games 6 innings. 23 wickets in 16 games. SR: 15.5 Avg: 18.13 ER: 6.98 BB:4/22 vs Kolkatta Knight Riders. Took 7 catches.
RP was a front runner for purple cap in last IPL. Was the key figure in India's test series win in England, T20 Worldcup and perth test. But injuries and loss of form found him out of India's best 16 of late. Boy did he make a come back like a pheonix. With 23 wickets he won the purple cap. despite some slip ups in the middle part of the tournament, he was the best active Indian Bowler on show. (A close contender may be Ashish Nehra). It was apt that this come-back king added the finishing touches to Deccans Rise from the Ashes of last year (Last in 2008, Winners of 2009) with a nerveless final over. Hope RP improves his fielding, inspite of the 7 catches he took.
Marks out 10: 6.9/10
15. Yuvraj Singh (Batsman, India & Captain, Kings XI Punjab)
340 runs in 14 games 14 innings. Avg: 28.33 SR: 115. 64 HS: 58* vs Chennai Super Kings. 2 fifties. 6 wickets in 14 games. SR: 20.00 Avg: 23.66 ER: 7.10 BB: 3/13 vs Deccan Chargers. Took 5 catches.
A satisfying return for any others but not for Yuvraj. Scored just 299 runs with 1 fifty last season. Was always angry as a leader and had reasons too. Took a hat-trick and scored a 50 vs Bangalore Royal Challengers only to see his team loose by 8 runs. Took another hat-trick and took his team to victory over Deccan but in a must win game against Chennai, chasing a modest 117, he and his glamorous team wilted under the guiles of MS Dhoni. Hit 16 sixers, and hit the longest off'em all, a 119 meter monster of Albie Morkel.
Marks out of 10: Yuvraj the Player: 6/10 Yuvraj the Captain 6/10; Average 6/10
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