IPL Century makers leave IPL

It is sad, but true. The 3 of the 4 century makers of IPL so far will be leaving tonight to play for their respective teams. The century makers of IPL so far are :

1. Brendon McCullum (Knight Riders)
2. Andrew Symonds (Deccan Chargers)
3. Mike Hussey (Super Kings)
4. Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers)

Of the above list McCullum, Symonds, Hussey are leaving tonight. Symonds and Hussey who belong to Australia are leaving to Australia to get ready for their carribean tour. McCullum who plays for New Zealand will be leaving for his team’s England Tour. Gilchrist who has already retired from international cricket will be staying back.

It is ironic that all the four century makers are from outside India and the only Indian who came close to a century was Virendra Sehwag. It would also be interesting to see how the respective teams perform now that they will be gone. Let us check out who will be better served and who might miss out.

Super Kings will be worst hit as they will be losing Mike Hussey and Mathew Hayden. They still have Stephen Fleming who has already retired but that might not be enough. They are falling short of an international batsman. They might fill the other spot with Makhaya Ntini but that do not help with their batting. It all goes back to MS Dhoni’s form and how Fleming will perform along with Suresh Raina.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be hit as Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum will be leaving the team and there is not enough firepower left. Salman Butt and Brad Hodge might fill up the spots left by Ponting and McCullum but they might not be as devastating as Ponting or McCullum would be.

Deccan Chargers, you might believe that they would be affected by $1.35 million player Andrew Symonds leaving, but it can work in favor of them. They have Herschelle Gibbs warming the benches. Do you remember the six sixers he hit in a one-day international? That is a very dangerous prospect. I think he was on the bench for the last match because they did not have an option or they were having too many options. That looks resolved now. Other thing is they are chosing between Scott Styris and Shahid Afridi. But now that Styris is gone they have an easy option of picking Afridi. This might make their bowling look a little weak but Symonds was expensive in earlier matches and any other player would have done the same.

Now that the current top teams Super Kings and Knight Riders are grappling with the australians leaving, Deccan Chargers and Rajastan Royals could be the new favorites.