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Journalism of Courage
Question for Gautam Gambhir at Friday8217;s pre-match press conference: How easy is it to play alongside players of different nationalities?
As Gambhir starts analysing one of this tournament8217;s favourite topics of discussion, a franchise-owner8217;s nominee, seated on the dais alongside him why?, reaches across and whisks the mike off the opener to mention that when the team was picked, 8220;we made sure we chose the foreign players keeping in mind the cultural affinity.8221;Moral of the story: In the Indian Premier League, anything sells, including random theories.
The one thing that no one needs any convincing about, though, is that on any piece of paper, the Delhi Daredevils start their opening encounter against the Rajasthan Royals as firm favourites.
Last-minute buzz
The Ferozeshah Kotla was a buzz of activity, people buzzing from Point A to Point B, some buzzing back from Point B to Point A, all applying finishing touches to the venue 8212; or battle arena, in this tournament of hyperbole.
The Royals are considered to be one of the weakest teams in the league and they have been further depleted by the absence of some of their key foreign recruits. Graeme Smith and Morne Morkel are completing T20 duties back home, Dimitri Mascarenhas is only available from Game Five, while Pakistan8217;s Younis Khan and Kamran Akmal are yet to finish their one-day series against Bangladesh.
Under the circumstances, they will only be playing three foreigners teams can use up to four in a game 8212; Shane Warne, who retired from all forms of cricket recently; Darren Lehmann, who8217;s done the same, and Shane Watson, who is trying to find a way back into the Australian one-day side post-injury.
Comparing that to the Delhi line-up seems a bit silly. Gambhir and the fact that he8217;s figured out the Twenty20 format, Sehwag and the fear he can put into any bowling attack, Tillekaratne Dilshan8217;s calming influence in the middle, Glenn McGrath8217;s parsimony 8212; they look in good shape.
Even stevens
But neither Gambhir nor Mohammad Kaif 8212; designated speakers in the absence of captains Sehwag and Warne 8212; thought the shortest format of the game was suited to picking favourites.
8220;Everything is so fast-paced that there8217;s no time to make any comebacks. If any team manages to pick up a few early wickets, they automatically become favourites,8221; Gambhir said time and again in his defence, he was asked the same question by three different people.
Even Kaif, who will be hoping to play some big knocks to break back into national reckoning, felt it was the format that evened things out to a large extent. 8220;When India went to the T20 world championship under Mahendra Singh Dhoni8217;s captaincy, no one thought they would come back with the trophy. That was a young team, but they managed to pull off some big surprises. We8217;ll be hoping to do the same.
8220;Anyway it8217;s the most consistent team that will come out as champions. It8217;s not about a couple of games, each team has to play 14 matches,8221; he said. 8220;We are looking to gather some momentum, and after that, anything is possible.8221;
Domestic examination
The one thing the two teams have in common is the amount of local talent they8217;ve packed into their squads. Apart from Sehwag and Gambhir 8212; and the foreigners 8212; the hosts did not go in for any big names from the Indian side, preferring to bank on members of their Ranji Trophy-winning squad.
Rajasthan have only three Indians who have played international cricket 8212; Kaif, Munaf Patel and, if you can count his T20 world championship final cameo, Yusuf Pathan.
With teams having to play a minimum of seven Indians in their XI, this game should provide us with a fair idea of how big the gap between cricket at the domestic level and the biggest stage really is.
