The battle begins

HYDERABAD: With curtains getting lifted off the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), the richest cricket show on earth has finally arrived.

Eight teams will be battling it out over a month to clinch the maiden IPL championship. But it’s a difficult road to the title, as assistant coach of the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers Kanwaljit Singh opines.

The fact that domestic players would have to find common ground with the international stars, in as short a time as possible, is a challenging task indeed.

"We had our own reservations about how the international cricketers would gel with the local lads," admits Singh. But the reservations have slowly come unfounded, says the former Hyderabad off-spinner.

"The international players have been really forthcoming with our players. The local players have been keenly following the way players of the stature of Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds go about their game. Given the experience that they bring, this is a huge learning opportunity for the youngsters."

The Deccan Chargers seem to be the strongest team on paper. According to Singh, the team will definitely go a long way, and fully deserves being called the favourite.

"Our team looks to be the most well-balanced. I’m very happy with the selection of the players. Almost every player has been a match-winner in his own right," he says.

The Deccan Chargers will face-off with the Kolkata Knightriders in their first match, in front of an undoubtedly intimidating crowd at Eden Gardens on April 20. But Singh exudes confidence in his team’s performance.

"We started our preparations almost a month ago. Even though we started out with the domestic players, eventually most of the others joined us, and the momentum has been great. The local boys have already shown considerable amount of improvement."

As the home team gets set for its Kolkata challenge, the fans in the city will get their first glimpse into the cricket extravaganza on April 22, when the Chargers take on swashbuckler Virender Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils.