Deccan up against spirited Royals

Agencies

New Delhi, 09 April 2011: With history on their side, the Champions of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) season - Rajasthan Royals - will start their IPL-4 campaign against the 2009 winners Deccan Chargers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday.

 

The two sides locked their horns on six occasions in the past three years and Royals by far have the upper hand winning five of those six encounters. Both the teams have been changed upside down ahead of the new season thus changing the core of the squad that participated in the first three seasons of the cash-rich event.

 

With the loss of batting stars like Adam Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds, Deccan don’t look that formidable and they would hope that their new players get them off to a winning start. Their new skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who stepped down from captaincy after Sri Lanka’s loss to India in the World Cup final, is in good form and would hope that players like JP Duminy and Michael Lumb help the side start its campaign on a high.

 

 

With two of their premier players, England’s Kevin Pietersen and Australia’s Cameron White, are out due to different reasons, Deccan look vulnerable in the batting department. Pietersen pulled out of the World Cup to undergo a hernia surgery and is still recovering from it. The English batsman will miss the entire season for the Chargers. White, on the other hand, is part of the Aussie squad playing three-match ODI series in Bangladesh.

 

But their bowling looks strong as the world’s fastest bowler Dale Steyn is up in their rank. He can be supported by Indian pacers Ishant Sharma, who played for the Kolkata Knight Riders till last season, and Manpreet Gony, who was a part of Chennai Super Kings’ squad. Meanwhile, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha will be the options in the spin department.

 

For Rajasthan, nothing has gone well after winning the 2008 crown. They hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons during the past two years, especially breaking the IPL guidelines for different reasons during the period. Except Shane Warne, who remains at the helm of affairs for the third consecutive year, they have also gone for a complete revamp.

 

Ross Taylor and Rahul Dravid are the only established names in the batting department as Paul Collingwood will miss the event due to an injury, hile Shane Watson is on national duty in Bangladesh. The Royals have roped in New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram as a replacement for Collingwood.

 

Shaun Tait and Johan Botha along with Warne will shoulder most of the responsibility in the bowling department with Oram and Siddharth Trivedi expected to play the supporting role. It could be a battle to watch out for as both sides look almost equal in their strengths and weaknesses.