Government Jobs & GK 2016-17: 04/09/16

Saturday, April 9, 2016

IPL 2016 squad

Mumbai Indians

Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Jos Buttler, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, Corey Anderson, Unmukt Chand, Shreyas Gopal, Kishore Kamath, Mitchell McClenaghan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Deepak Punia, Ambati Rayudu, Lendl Simmons, Tim Southee, Vinay Kumar, Marchant de Lange, Siddhesh Lad, Lasith Malinga, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Nitish Rana, Jitesh Sharma, Nathu Singh, Suchith, Akshay Wakhare.

Support staff: Ricky Ponting (head coach), Robin Singh (batting coach), Shane Bond (bowling coach), Jonty Rhodes (fielding coach).

Key players:

Rohit Sharma: Without a doubt, the Mumbai Indians captain, is capable of inspiring the team to their third title with the bat in hand as well as while leading the side. Rohit's form will dictate how the team will fare but even if the captain fails to turn up with the bat, they have enough fire-power to topple any opposition.

Jos Buttler: The destructive wicketkeeper-batsman is a welcome addition to the squad and will boost in what is already a power-packed batting line-up. His finishing capabilities for sure will hold Mumbai in good stead.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Stuart Binny, Kedar Jadhav, David Wiese, Yuzuvendra Chahal, Varun Aaron, Sreenath Arvind, Adam Milne, Parvez Rasool, Kane Richardson, Travis Head, Iqbal Abdulla, KL Rahul, Abu Nechim, Harshal Patel, Vikas Tokas, Akshay Karnewar, Praveen Dubey, Sachin Baby, Vikramjeet Malik, Samuel Badree(!), Mitchell Starc (!).

Support staff: Daniel Vettori (head coach), Bharat Arun (assistant coach), Trent Woodhill (batting and fielding coach), Allan Donald (bowling coach).

Key players:

Shane Watson: Even with the likes of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Bangalore spent a fortune on acquiring Shane Watson for his all-round capabilities. Watson, having retired from international cricket, will be keen to perform well for his new franchise and his performances in the ICC World T20 2016 show that's there's plenty of hunger still left.

AB de Villiers: The South African talisman didn't have a fruitful World T20 but when he turns up for Bangalore it doesn't take him long to get into beast mode with the bat in hand. It'll be interesting to see how he shrugs off form woes and takes his performance up a notch.

Delhi Daredevils

Squad: Zaheer Khan (Captain), Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Carlos Brathwaite, Quinton de Kock, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Chama Milind, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Pawan Negi, Sanju Samson, Jayant Yadav, Mayank Agarwal, Sam Billings, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jean-Paul Duminy,Imran Tahir, Mahipal Lomror, Chris Morris, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Pratyush Singh, Pawan Suyal, Amit Mishra.

Support staff:

Key players: Rahul Dravid (mentor), Paddy Upton (head coach), Pravin Amra (batting coach), TA Sekar (bowling coach).

Shreyas Iyer: Shreyas Iyer's run of form in domestic circuit makes him one of the key players for this relatively inexperienced team. The Mumbai batsman scored 1321 runs in 11 Ranji Trophy games in the 2015-16 season at an average of 73.38 and at an astounding strike-rate of 92.7. He exceptional run tally also includes four centuries and seven fifties.

Zaheer Khan: The former India pacer has always been prone to injuries so it came as a surprise to a lot of people when he was named captain of the squad. If Zaheer can last the distance, it'll boost Delhi's chances as well.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Squad: Gautam Gambhir (c), Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Colin Munro, Andre Russell, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, John Hastings, Jason Holder, R Sathish, Manan Sharma, Sheldon Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Brad Hogg, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot

Support staff: Jacques Kallis (head coach), Simon Katich (assistant coach), Wasim Akram (bowling coach), WV Raman (batting advisor).

Key players:

Manish Pandey: The Karnataka batsman has been on the fringes of the Indian team for quite some time now and has grabbed every opportunity with both hands. Kolkata's No. 4 has the array of shots needed to propel the team in the middle overs and some solid performances here could ensure he gets an extended run in the national side.

Andre Russell: The West Indies allrounder won the Big Bash title earlier this year with Sydney Thunder, was part of the World T20-winning team and, like last year, will be another vital cog in Kolkata's wheel. His sheer ability to clear the ground and the knack of bowling a few useful overs in the middle makes him a valuable asset in a tournament like IPL.

Kings XI Punjab

Squad: David Miller (Captain), Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Abbott, Anureet Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Farhaan Behardien, KC Cariappa, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Nikhil Naik, Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Sandeep Sharma, Pradeep Sahu, Mohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra.

Support staff: Virender Sehwag (mentor), Sanjay Bangar (head coach), Joe Dawes (bowling coach), R Sridhar (fielding coach).

Key players:

Glenn Maxwell: This one is a no-brainer! Maxwell will be a vital cog in reversing KXIP's fortunes this season. His form and consistency with the bat will be very crucial to the team's chances, and even though he hasn't picked as many wickets in the just-concluded ICC World T20 as the Australian team management would have liked, Kings XI Punjab have heavily relied on his off break bowling in the past - at times even using him as their frontline spin option.

David Miller: Given their destructive abilities, the Glenn Maxwell-David Miller duo warrants an automatic entry into the playing XI. Miller's indifferent form will give the team management a headache. The out-of-form skipper will have to justify his selection, considering he would also be occupying one of the only four available slots for foreign players.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Squad: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Ricky Bhui, Mustafizur Rahman, Trent Boult, Moises Henriques, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Naman Ojha, Karn Sharma, Tirumalsetti Suman, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ashish Reddy, Bipul Sharma, Ben Cutting, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Eoin Morgan, Vijay Shankar, Barinder Sran, Aditya Tare.

Support staff: VVS Laxman (mentor), Tom Moody (head coach), Simon Helmot (assistant coach), Muttiah Muralitharan (bowling coach).

Key players:

Mustafizur Rahman: In the world of big bats and obscene strokeplay, a bowler like Mustafizur could be the difference between wins and losses. In his brief international career so far, the 20-year-old has gone a long way to establish and showcase his ability to set up a batsman and use cutters to his advantage. The wiry-framed Bangladesh bowler isn't your out-and-out pacer but, the sort of variations he carries in his arsenal, adds to his craft. In his last World T20 fixture, the left-armer bagged a five-wicket haul against New Zealand, justifying Sunrisers' decision to invest INR 1.4 crore in the youngster.

Deepak Hooda: The 20-year-old Rohtak-born batsman sparked a bidding war in the player auction, eventually going to Sunrisers for 42 times his base price of INR 10 lakh. Even in an auction of inflated sums and overpriced players, there's a hint of borderline absurdity to Sunrisers' valuation of Hooda. Yet, if he can replicate his big-hitting ability from last season and do it more consistently at the top of the order, Moody & Co. could stand vindicated. In Yuvraj's absence, Hooda could get a chance to cement his place at No.4 and create the sort of impact he did for the now-suspended Rajasthan Royals in the previous edition.

Gujarat Lions

Squad: Suresh Raina (c), Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik, Andrew Tye, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe, Praveen Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Shadab Jakati, Paras Dogra, Ishan Kishan, Eklavya Dwivedi, Shival Kaushik, Sarbjit Ladda, Umang Sharma, Akshdeep Nath, Jaydev Shah, Amit Mishra.

Support staff: Brad Hodge (head coach), Shitanshu Kotak (assistant coach), Heath Streak (bowling coach).

Key players:

Brendon McCullum: One of T20 cricket's finest game-changers, McCullum is among the best players to light up a contest. His surprisingly-timed retirement before the World T20 robbed cricket fans from watching the former New Zealand skipper in action, as he walked away sooner than they would've have wished. But a new team will provide an ideal platform for him to share and profess his cricket-playing philosophy and form one of the most exciting teams in the tournament.

Suresh Raina: This might be a new team, but Raina, the captain, is well acquainted with the players. While six are from his domestic team, eight are from two-time champions Chennai Super Kings. He has enjoyed success with both. So, neither will it be difficult for the captain to understand his players and assess their weaknesses and strengthsnor will it take time for the new outfit to bond well.

Rising Pune Supergiants

Squad: MS Dhoni (c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Faf du Plessis, Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Jaskaran Singh, Irfan Pathan, Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma, Adam Zampa, Ankit Sharma, Murugan Ashwin, Ankush Bains, Scott Boland, Ashok Dinda, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Ishwar Pandey, Thisara Perera, RP Singh, Baba Aparajith.

Support staff: Stephen Fleming (head coach), Hrishikesh Kanitkar (batting coach), Eric Simons (bowling coach).

Key players:

Ajinkya Rahane: He only got to play in the semi-final of World T20 and MS Dhoni has time and again stressed that Ajinkya Rahane is best suited to play at the top of the order. That is exactly where Rahane is likely to be slotted in during the 2016 edition of IPL and he will be keen to provide the steady starts that he has given Rajasthan Royals in the past.

RP Singh: Making his return to IPL after a gap of two years, RP Singh will be eager to prove a point and impress upon all that he still that there is still a lot of fuel left in his tank. The 30-year-old left-arm pacer, who shifted base to Gujarat during the recent domestic season, was amongst the top-10 wicket-takers in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (India's domestic T20 competition), the sort of form he will hope to replicate under Dhoni.

Gautam Gambhir was confident of Sunil Narine coming good, even with his remodelled action.

The Eden Gardens in Kolkata is renowned not just for its colossal capacity to hold large number of spectators, but also for the vociferous, sportive crowds that flock the stadium. There's also the clich that states that a cricketer's education is not complete till he plays in front of a packed Eden Gardens - something that the Kolkata Knight Riders will be familiar with, having played in front of more than just a few full houses in the last eight editions of the Indian Premier League.

On the eve of their tournament opener against Delhi Daredevils, Gautam Gambhir, the Knight Riders captain, was once again his pan-faced self, but yet, managed to force a smile when asked about what he loved about playing at the iconic venue, which is home to his team. "The people of Kolkata have always been our strength," Gambhir said on Saturday (April 9).

"One of the biggest strengths of KKR is the fan base. The amount of loyalty and emotions they've shown us after the first three years is incredible. They stuck through with us, believed in us and have shared our emotions of joy when in victory, and sorrow in losses. Whenever we walk onto the field, we want to make them proud and happy by playing good cricket."

Last season, the Knight Riders missed out on playoffs qualification by just a point to finish fifth. However, they had started exceptionally well, something Gambhir hoped the side would continue this year. "Everyone's excited and we're looking forward to a good start. I believe that if we can get off to a good start, it always takes the pressure off you and this is what we've realised last year as well. Up to 12 games we were at the top and suddenly in two games we slipped to No.5, so we can hopefully start off well and continue that into the tournament," he said.

Gambhir also confirmed that Sunil Narine, who has been one of their most effective bowlers, will not be available for the opening clash.

"I am as confident in his ability as I was last year," Gambhir said, when asked if Narine will be as effective with a remodelled bowling action. "He'll also be confident with a remodelled action after getting the monkey off his back. It is very important for anyone to get that off your back as you can go into the game with freedom and know that everything has been sorted. The more confident that Sunil is the more confident I will be. Last time he was always under the scrutiny, this year, you'll get the best of them and see the best of him as well," he added.

Carlos Brathwaite, who joins Delhi this season, has been the talk of the town after he smashed four successive sixes in the final of the recently-concluded World T20 in Kolkata to hand West Indies an improbable win. Gambhir, however, believed that his opponents weren't just about the burly West Indian. "We did not discuss about individuals. Delhi Daredevils is not only about Brathwaite, it's about their other quality players as well. If we have to win, we have to win against 11 people. We don't have to beat one individual to win a game of cricket, we have to beat 11," he said.

During the course of its existence, the IPL has served as a platform not just to unearth talent, but also provide players with second chances. When Gambhir was asked if he had an eye out to making a comeback to the national side if he performed well for the Knight Riders, he retorted with a hint of annoyance. "I have said this every IPL that I approach every edition with the view of winning it and not with a view of getting into the Indian side. I don't know how the others approach it, but when I play for KKR and the IPL, my focus is on KKR winning the IPL.

"Playing for India or getting selected, when it happens, it'll happen. My job is to score runs and get KKR to win. I only am focussing on that at the moment. When I can't guarantee a tomorrow, how can I tell you what would happen after the IPL?" he asked.

However, he calmed down instantly when asked about the tragic collapse of an under-construction flyover in the city and assured that he and his team would do all they could for the victims. "That's our responsibility not only from a KKR point of view, but individually as well as Indians. This is something very unfortunate and should not happen. If we could help the victims in any way, me personally will go out of my way to do it, and KKR will as well. You can't undo the loss, but what we can do in our capacity, we would love to do," he concluded.