IPLV: Key to Pune Warriors' fortunes might be with the domestic players

Lady Luck still seems to be playing hide and seek with Pune Warriors, writes The Times Of India, adding that on the one hand, she has landed them a major signing in Australian captain Michael Clarke, which is nothing short of a coup while on the other hand, she has deprived them of the services of James Hopes, whom they bought from Delhi Daredevils and has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury. 

Irrespective of all these foreign recruits including Angelo Mathews, Jesse Ryder,  Marlon Samuels and Luke Wright, the key to the team's fortunes might be with the domestic players, writes TOI.

“Much will depend on the success of Robin Uthappa and in what position he bats. Manish Pandey has done little of note since becoming the first Indian to score a ton in the IPL, but like his Karnataka teammate, has shown signs of revival this season. It could be the case in bowling as well, where Ashok Dinda and Rahul Sharma have a role to play.”

Pune Warriors received another blow when South Africa’s Test captain Graeme Smith was ruled out of the Indian Premier League because of injury, according to a report in TOI. Smith, who was due to turn out for the Pune Warriors, is nursing an ankle injury and is likely to be operated on. “He is likely to be operated on in SA. He has also got some personal commitments,” sources said. Smith played the first three seasons of the IPL for Rajasthan Royals. 

Rajasthan Royals would do well to remember Shane Warne's tutorials, writes The Hindu. “ Shane Warne, one of the most celebrated achievers in world cricket, left a rich legacy for Rajasthan Royals, a team that had few supporters initially. But the legendary Australian leg-spinner inspired a bunch of dreamers to achieve their goal in style. A team that had the untested Niraj Patel and Swapnil Asnodkar as openers won the final at Mumbai off the last ball. If the Rajasthan team was good enough to dream, it was good enough to live it too!” says the national daily, adding that Patel and Asnodkar were very keen to shine on a stage that was the cynosure of the cricket fraternity.
“They did shine. Yusuf Pathan made a mark too with his belligerence at the crease. So did Siddharth Trivedi with his controlled seam bowling. They all remained grateful to Warne, who played the mentor's role to perfection,” The Hindu says adding Rajasthan Royals would do well to remember Warne's tutorials. “Performance should be the priority to prosper,” he always advocated.

Sunil Gavaskar in his column in TOI writes that since the IPL began in 2008, it has been used by overseas players not only to fill their coffers but to score brownie points with their respective boards and the media.

“Whenever players have realised that there is little chance of them being picked by any of the franchises, they have resorted to the ploy of saying that they would prefer to rest themselves and keep physically and mentally fresh for their country’s international season. The headlines they get in their country’s media are incredible, simply because there is such an envy about the IPL among those who are not involved in it that these people are just waiting for an opportunity to have a go at the tournament. The old powers cannot understand how they missed out on it but even if they had started something similar, they would not have been able to duplicate the unique razzmattaz of the IPL. I have not been to the big bash in Australia but those who have been there and also to the IPL say that there is no comparison. Also, the T20 event in England is as bland as the food there. That apart, the fees that the IPL gives to the players is way beyond anything that the combined T20 tournaments in the rest of the cricketing world can offer,” says Gavaskar.

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