Celebration of Cricket: Time for Cricket's Biggest carnival

Celebration of Cricket: Time for Cricket's Biggest carnival: Its that time of the year.The month of April brings a lot to our country than just a new financial year,ripe,fresh and juicy mangoes & a...

Time for Cricket's Biggest carnival

Its that time of the year.The month of April brings a lot to our country than just a new financial year,ripe,fresh and juicy mangoes & a warm and humid climate that we all refer to as Summer.So what is that thing,yes it is yet another edition of the Indian Premier League which as always promises to be bigger,brighter and much much more exciting than before.So get ready for a thriller-maniac ride because its gonna be a total ripper this time this tournament.

So,9 teams this year thanks to Kochi's exclusion who might not necessarily be equal in strength and demeanor but if someone is willing to gauge or predict this winner of this tournament on the basis of the "on-the sheet" strength,then that person must prepare himself for a big surprise.
The Sachin Tendulkar led Mumbai Indians will start the tournament this year as "favorites" as they look stronger than any other side on paper in this competition,but as we all know that Cricket is not played on paper,its played on that brown bit of turf out there.Not too far behind are the Chennai Super Kings who off course are the defending champions and will be looking to make it three in a row this year.The Kolkata Knight Riders will be my pick though for this tournament because to me,this is an excellently laid out team and under Gautam Gambhir,who I am sure the world will hear a lot about as a captain in the years to come & the King of Bollywood as their co-owner looks like it has the repertoire to go all the way.The Royal Challengers from Bangalore must not be discounted as they have the dynamic and deadly West Indian in Chris Gayle to bolster their chances in the coming 2 months.Kings 11,Deccan,Pune,Delhi and Rajasthan all look in the same boat at the moment as teams possessing the main ingredients of a world famous recipe but lacking in the little things here and there.
Whoever wins the IPL this year,lets not forget that Cricket will ultimately be the winner in the end and that itself is the most exciting thing.So get set for a rollicking 2 months as the mercury levels rise outside the windows.Turn on the AC's,sit back,sip in a drink and enjoy the cricket at the Indian Premier League.