Who cracked the code?

For once, South Indian superpowers didn’t make news for having invested in the coolest of IT spots.

For once, South Indian superpowers didn’t make news for having invested in the coolest of IT spots. Nor did they make it for the latest Chiranjeevi or Rajnikanth blockbuster.

They may not have been allotted an icon player, but the two franchises made the big ripples — and a lot of wise decisions — not just by grabbing Andrew Symonds and MS Dhoni in their teams, but also by making several other wise picks.

Apart from Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi, Hyderabad also boasts of players such as Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris in the team – among the most destructive batsmen in the shorter version of the game. VVS Laxman – who hails from the city – will lead the team. Put them all together and it gives Hyderabad a stunning batting lineup, more impressive than any other outfit in the mix.

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Chennai, however, comes a close second. Dhoni will have the likes of Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Michael Hussey and Stephen Fleming in the team, and Makhaya Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan, who have come at bargain prices to lead the bowling attack.

In fact, they bid so aggresively that they went over the US$ 5m cap, but that is not a problem as some of the players, who were on the unavailable list, only have to be paid 25 per cent of the bid amount.

Better than the rest

Should the two teams clash with each other, India’s cricket-crazy television audience will have a classic contest of Chaminda Vaas bowling to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Mathew Hayden, and of Muttiah Muralitharan testing the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs.

“It can be easily said that Chennai and Hyderabad have chosen their players well, at least better than the rest. They have pocketed a few good deals for a very cheap price. It left everybody in the auction room stunned when they pocketed the likes of Styris, Vaas, Hayden and Ntini for such cheap prices. They bid for Murali as if he had told them specifically he only wanted to play for Chennai (where his in-laws live),” says one franchise team member who was bidding on Wednesday.

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There are a few other tantalising lineups — Mumbai, for example, where Sachin Tendulkar could open the batting with Sanath Jayasuriya and Kolkata, where Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting and Chris Gayle will pepper the offside with boundaries.

But, as things stand, it’s Chennai and Hyderabad that the rest of the IPL will have to really watch out for.

Bangalore Rs 19.4 cr

Batsmen

Rahul Dravid (Ind)

S Chanderpaul (WI)

Wasim Jaffer (Ind)

Bowlers

Anil Kumble (Ind)

Zaheer Khan (Ind)

Nathan Bracken (Aus)

Dale Steyn (SA)

wicket-keeper