Having been embroiled in a host of controversies, including a near fatal infighting amongst its share-holders, a rather awkward change of its initial name and petty bickerings over its choice of the home ground, KTK is finally there to make its debut.
The Kochi squad features several players of stature, including Mahela Jayawardene, Muttaiah Muralitharan, V.V.S. Laxman, S. Sreesanth, Brad Hodge, Brendon McCullum, Thisara Perera, Parthiv Patel, R.P. Singh, Vinay Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Michael Klinger and Steven Smith to bolster its batting and bowling fronts, but lacks a real big wig of Indian cricket in its middle-order.
This major weakness apart, there are also doubts on how the rookie team would perform in the absence of a standout partner alongside spin wizard Muralitharan, especially in the bone dry slow pitches wherein the mantra of the side would be to restrict the rival batting in the middle overs.
Yet, the silver lining would be the presence of the inform skipper
Mahela Jayawardene, coming after his sublime century against India in the World Cup final. However, whether the Sri Lankan would be able to shoulder the side’s batting fortunes right without adequate help does pose a few big questions on team selection.
For sure, the presence of local lad Sreesanth is certain to help add to the Tuskers’ fan base while the real saving grace could be its allrounders, particularly Hodge, Perera, Smith and Jadeja. Former Australian pacer Geoff Lawson is the team coach, bringing in the experience of a tested and tried tactician.
Overall, KTK making an impact in the tournament would depend upon the momentum and stability of its batting line-up. Otherwise it can at best be only an also-ran.
The squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), V.V.S. Laxman, S. Sreesanth, Brad Hodge, Ravindra Jadeja, Michael Klinger, Brendon McCullum, Parthiv Patel, Thisara Perea, Owais Shah, R.P. Singh, Steven Smith, Muttiah Muralitharan, Steve O’Keefe, Vinay Kumar, Ramesh Powar, T.M. Srivastava, John Hastings, Raiphy Vincent Gomez, Balachandra Akhil, Deepak Chougule, Gnanaeswara Rao, Yashpal Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Chandan, Madan, Sushant Marathe and Prasanth Padmanabhan.
