Is Royal Challengers still a test team?
I read a rediff piece and am wondering if Royal Challengers still is a test team. Vijay Mallya is very buoyant about his new team. This is what he has to say.
"Last year our team was called a Test team, but with players such as (Kevin) Pietersen, (Robin) Uthappa and (Jesse) Ryder in the squad now, no one calls it a Test team anymore," Mallya said in Mumbai [Images] on Thursday. (Rediff)
We at Leg Gully are rooting for the Royal Challengers and it is our home team. We got our home boy Robin Uthappa and the world is going gaga over Jessy Ryder. I haven’t seen him in action yet so I too want a piece of him. But is it really not a test team any more?
What has changed since the season 1?
1. Kevin Pietersen the switch-shot hitter is in the team.
2. Jesse Ryder the surprise pack is in the team.
3. Robin Uthappa India’s own sensation is back in the team.
Those are some significant changes right there to blast whoever calls this a test team. But the team has to have 11 players.
What about the rest of the team?
Just to pick a few names : Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher. Really all these people to win the tournament?
What did they lose?
Zaheer Khan. They lost him to Robin Uthappa. Royal Challengers had a problem with both batting and bowling in the first episode. They have bolstered the batting and weakened the bowling. Not a good idea if you ask me. RC should have retained Zaheer Khan.
There is a restriction of 4 foreign players per team. Given that Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder will always be in the team, the other 2 spots will be filled in easily without Kallis and Boucher. The international quota is really brimming. But, the home talent is falling short. The Achilles heel for BRC is the Indian squad.
International players: Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe and Dillon du Preez (South Africa), Cameroon White and Nathan Bracken (Australia), Kevin Pietersen (England), Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder (New Zealand)
Indian players: Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa, Praveen Kumar, Virat Kohli, Wasim Jaffer, Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami, Suteesh R, Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Bhuvanesh Kumar, Karan Sharma, Saurav Bandekar, Tinu Yohanan, Bharat Chipli, B Akhil, Devraj Patil, J Arun Kumar, KP Appana, Sunil Joshi, Gauvar Dhiman, Jitendra Patil, Udit Patel, Mithun A. Aravind, S. Kedar Jadhav, Gautam CM, Raju Bhatkal, Rajesh Bishnoi, Ishank Jaggi and Rohit Sabharwal
Oh Boy! Do you really want me to go through the list. I do not see any real stars other than Uthappa and a bit of Goswami and Kohli. Most of the other fellas are largely untested on the international scene. It certainly cannot carry the weight of Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Wasim Jaffer and Praveen Kumar while selecting the team.
Look there might be some real gems in those names. But, they have to be honed to make an impact. If you are thinking of Rajasthan Royals then stop that thought right there. Royals got lucky with Shane Warne and Challengers are stuck with Kevin Pietersen who has an ego larger than Kingfisher airplane.
Verdict 1 : Royal Challengers team still sucks. It doesn’t suck like it did in the first season though.
Verdict 2 : Royal Challengers is not a test team anymore. But, it is not a T20 team either. It is somewhere in between.
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