IPL talent pool

Harsha Bhogle ponders on how the scarcity of local talent is going to affect the balance of the IPL teams.

In a day or two, each of the teams will have their full quota of overseas players available to them. Mike Hussey, Bollinger, Harris, Taylor, Vettori and McCullum will turn up to find their teams in very different situations.

Chennai Super Kings can’t wait for Hussey and Bollinger to arrive and will put those two into the playing eleven straightaway as will Delhi Daredevils with Vettori. Since Murali must be the third player in their team, it becomes a straight option between Hayden and Morkel. Ordinarily that would be a no-contest but so ordinary has been the Chennai bowling that Morkel is the only all-rounder available to them. Ticklish but the players are welcome.

Kolkata Knight Riders are struggling (being written a couple of hours before their game to Deccan Chargers) and would greatly value the arrival of McCullum. But Gayle is a given, Hussey is a top T20 player, Mathews is about the only all-rounder they have and in a weak bowling set-up a Bond or a Langeveldt is critical. Unless of course you cater to the increasingly dry pitches and realise you need to have a Mendis. So which four players do they play? If Ishant, Dinda and Agarkar were in fine form, that problem would have an easy solution!

And reinforcing the situation, Deccan Chargers would love to play Ryan Harris after a season in which he has grown by leaps and bounds. But what about Vaas who has given them the breakthroughs in the games they have won? And Roach on whom they have spent a small fortune?

And so to the peculiar paradox that a lot of teams will now go through. They would love to have a pick-me-up for their sides, these players are perfectly capable of providing it but they have to replace another valuable player! It points to the paucity of local talent, even in conducive conditions. Teams like Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI have no home-grown talent to fall back on and must wish that the seven already in attendance turn the corner.

It’s a scary thought for the two new franchises who, as per current rules, could have 32 domestic players ruled out!