Few days back, all the champion players, playing and representing their respective countries were battling it down under to be crowned the world champions. Some of them were able to achieve their dream while the others went home with a broken heart. But here they are again. All the smiling faces are back in action, fully pumped up and ready to represent their respective franchise in the Pepsi Indian Premier League 2015.
It’s that time of the year again. The time when each family member supports a different team, the time when all the loyalties are divided and the time when a cricket league is celebrated as a festival all around the globe.
The 8th edition of the Indian premier league kicks of when the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the Pepsi IPL 2014 winners, will commence their defence of the title, on home turf, on 8 April 2015. The opening encounter of the Pepsi IPL 2015 will see them play Mumbai Indians, winners of the 2013 season, at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
A total of 60 matches (including the 4 playoffs) will be played over a period of 47 days, in the eighth season of the tournament that has captured the imagination of cricket-lovers across the world.
THE TEAMS
Rajasthan royals:- Rajasthan, in every IPL have been considered the dark horses and this time also the story is no different. With, in form Indian and overseas players. The Rajasthan royals is a sure threat to every team and cannot be taken lightly.
Sunrisers Hyderabad:- It’s an experienced and well-settled unit overall and Sunrisers do have the ability to make it to the final stages. However, they have to guard against complacency and not let the momentum slip when they get it going.
Mumbai Indians:- The presence of solid overseas players like Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, West Indies big-hitter Keiron Pollard, South Africa pacer Marchant de Lange, West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons and the highest wicket-taker in IPL history Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga give them quit an edge over other teams.
Delhi Daredevils:- A new captain and a completely new team would want to win the much needed ipl trophy this time. However their success depends a lot on their main buys of the auction, Yuvraj singh and Angelo Mathews and both of them need to fire to make the’ Dilli waale’ happy.
Kings 11 Punjab:- With one of the most balanced side of the tournament. Bailey led team will be gunning to do one better this time and clinch the IPL title this time at least.
The Big 3:
Chennai Super Kings:– Undoubtedly The most successful team of the Indian premier league and the current champions league holder have just made added to the strength of the team by picking up Michael hussey and kyle abbott in the auction. But this year’s big draw has to be Brendon McCullum, after his smash-mouth striking – 328 runs at a strike-rate of 188.50 – and leadership brought New Zealand within a match of the World Cup title. Added to a fantastic opening pair of Brendon mcCullum and Dwayne smith,csk have quite a solid middle order with the likes of ipl star Suresh raina and Faf du plessis and indian captain ms dhoni providing the finishing touch. Dwayne bravo, who missed last edition of the ipl due to injury will provide CSK with quality death bowling and batting as well. They also have currently India’s most successful spinner R ashwin and Ravindra jadeja providing them with the much needed balance
Given Super Kings’ success rate, three consecutive years without an IPL title is deemed an underachievement. But even as their supporters twitch nervously, Super Kings are unlikely to panic and will surely try to regain the lost glory on the 24 March in Kolkata.
Kolkata Knight Riders:- The defending champions will be high on confidence with the upliftment of Sunil narine’s ban and a record 16 matches winning streak in the last season.kkr bought in Aussie experienced china men bowler Bradd hogg and New Zealend all rounder James neesham in the Auction. Apart from the overseas players. KKR bought Kc Carriappa for a whopping 2.5cr who is also known as the ‘Indian Sunil narine’. Last year’s orange cap winner robin uthappa had a very good domestic season and would like to repeat the 2014 heroics, apart from Uthappa , KKR has a well recognized batting order including Gautam gambhir, Manish pandey, Yusuf Pathan and surya kumar Yadav. However kkr’s strength lies in their all rounders consisting of Shakib al hasan, Azhar mahmood, Yohan botha, Andre russel and Ryan ten doescate.with world cups second and third highest wicket taker in their ranks along with a formidable spin attack.KKR has one of the best bowling attack if not the best
High on confidence and under a great leader, Kolkata knight riders are firm favorites to lift the IPL trophy once again, this time in front of their home crowd at the Eden gardens.
Royal challengers Bangalore:- RCB is considered to be the ‘South Africa’ of IPL. Given the firepower they have in their batting order with the likes of Chris Gayle, Ab de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Kartik, they surely are one of the biggest contenders to win this year’s IPL. Leading their bowling attack will be the man of the tournament in the world cup MITCHELL STARC and supporting him will be the currently the fastest Indian bowler Varun Aaron and Bengal speedster Ashoke Dinda. In the 2015 Auction. They roped in West Indian all rounder Darren Sammy who will play the role of a finisher for the RCB and will chip in with one or two overs here and there.With such a star studded line up, RCB go in as the biggest tittle contenders for the 8th edition of Pepsi IPL and thus will try to remove the ‘chokers’ tag from their shirts.
