Clash of newcomers (Preview)

The newcomers -Pune, Kochi-had altogether different debut in their respective first ever match of the league.  Pune demonstrated their strengths in a terrific manner and rolled over Punjab emphatically while their counterparts Kochi had to taste defeat against Bangalore after playing some cricket, in patches, though.

Now, they will be pitted against each other. What one got from their debut games was the fact as if Pune knew what their best eleven was and, in contrary, Kochi looked unsettled but had their moments in the game and showed the class team possesses.

It is a case of making players know what their role in the team is and team that does take little time to do that will be one having more chances of winning. For both sides which have some of the best of this format, earlier games are a chance to settle in the tournament and make sure opportunities are seized to make a move forward.

Dissecting the squads of both sides, it is very difficult to choose a winner. Having legendary Muralitharan in the ranks, Kochi can argue they have a better spin attack than Pune but will have no such luxury in pace attack as Sahara Group owned team likes of Alfonso Thomas, Ashish Nehra and Jerome Taylor at their disposal.

Batting is the stronger suit of both teams with Pune boasting of the hard hitters and quality batsmen like their skipper Yuvraj Singh, Graeme Smith, Robin Uthappa, Jesse Ryder and Manish Pandey.  Form of their captain and the top-order is very important for Pune to lay strong platform for the aggressive men in late middle order. The experience of Graeme Smith and Yuvraj’s in the middle order is very crucial for the side as it can help young batsmen to play their natural game.

It will be explosive Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge and Captain Mahela Jayawardene from Kochi who will be posing a stiff challenge to the Pune bowlers as all of them have class and experience to change the complexion of game on their own. Local batting talent need to fire to give support to the trio and help the side in their pursuit to post a big total.

Pune fast bowlers were aggressive in the first match with Shrikant Wagh and Alfonso Thomas hitting disturbing lengths for the batsmen and getting the rewards early. They will need to do the same against strong batting lineup of Kochi with pitch at DY Patel Stadium having something to offer for fast bowlers.

Indian fast bowler and local boy Sreesanth and RP Singh didn’t bowl all that well in their first outing and their failure with the ball was one of the main reasons for Kochi defeat. The talented duo needs to forget the last match’s performance and bowl according to the plans and cut out on extras. They conceded many of them in the last game and offered lot of width to Bangalore batsmen who cashed on it to score heavily against them.

PUNE

Players who can make impact…

Jesse Ryder… Once considered to be a bad boy of New Zealand, this bulky left hander is full of talent and has an ability to change the course of a game at any stage. He had a good outing against Punjab both in the field and with bat. He would like to continue to enhance his reputation of being the one of the better batting prospects in the world.

Yuvraj Singh…Off late stylish left hander, Yuvraj has developed a penchant for performing on big stages. After bagging man of the tournament award in the world cup, Yuvraj has leapt to another level in his career. His leadership, batting, bowling and fielding can be kind of a tonic that newcomer Pune need to make a name at this level.

SQUAD

Yuvraj Singh (c) A Jhunjhunwala, Alfonso Thomas, Angelo Mathews, Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Callum Ferguson, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ganesh Gaikwad, Graeme Smith, Harpreet Singh, Harshad Khadiwale, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jerome Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Kamran Khan, Manish Pandey, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Monish Mishra, Murali Kartik, Nathan McCullum, Rahul Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Sachin Rana, Shrikant Mundhe, Shrikant Wagh, Tim Paine (wk), Wayne Parnell,

KOCHI

Players who can make impact…

Brendon McCullum… His brutal capabilities with the bat in the IPL are well documented. McCullum holds a record for the highest individual scoring 158 runs in the first IPL match played ever. He has played some terrific knocks since and reminded fans world over what he can on his day. His fireworks at the top of the order is the tonic that Kochi need to make things easier for the rest of the batsmen.

VVS Laxman…easy to eyes, Laxman’s style of play mightn’t be naturally suited for the format. As was evident in the first game, he has brought some changes in his technique and approach to score quickly. He brings stability to the batting lineup that is packed with big hitters.

SQUAD

B McCullum, Balachandra Akhil, Brad Hodge, Chandan Madan, Deepak Chougule, Gnaneswara Rao,John Hastings, Kedar Jadhav, M Jayawardene (c), Michael Klinger, Muttiah Muralitharan, Owais Shah, P Padmanabhan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Raiphi Gomez, Ramesh Powar, Ravindra Jadeja, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Steve O'Keefe, Steven Smith, Sushant Marathe, Tanmay Srivastava, Thissara Perera, Vinay Kumar,VVS Laxman, Yashpal Singh