The Kochi IPL franchise has been ridden with controversy ever since its inception a year ago. A tussle for ownership between the promoters (Rendezvous Sports World) and investors (Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, AnandShyam Estates and Film Wave) resulted in the franchise almost being scrapped from the fourth edition of the tournament.
Fortunately, a new ownership pattern was forged and the IPL governing council confirmed that Team Kochi will feature in IPL 4.
Then came the controversy over the team's name. The franchise was first christened "Indi Commandos" - a name that was immensely criticized by fans and people from the state of Kerala. The franchise then decided to have an online poll to come up with a name, and the team are now called "Kochi Tuskers Kerala" - a name which is inspired from the Indian Elephant which is the state animal of Kerala.
It is a name that endorses God's own country and one would expect a regional connect in the team. However, after the auction of players in January, Kochi Tuskers Kerala ended up with just two Keralites.
Kochi have a seemingly strong bowling line-up with the likes of MuttiahMuralitharan, Sreesanth, RP Singh and Vinay Kumar. The attack is bolstered by all-rounders such as RavindraJadeja, John Hastings, Steven Smith, ThisaraPerera, Michael Klinger and Steve O'Keefe.
However, it is the batting that takes a hit, which revolves around captainMahelaJayawardene - fresh from a World Cup final hundred - and wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum.
The Tuskers will hope that the other batsmen in the squad such as VVS Laxman, Owais Shah, Parthiv Patel and Brad Hodge can chip in along with the all-rounders - all of which can swing the blade.
However, team selection is going to be a headache for coach Geoff Lawson as he can choose only four players in the starting line-up from the array of foreign talent that is at his disposal.
Jayawardene (captain) and Muralitharan are walk-ins, which leaves two spots between McCullum, Perera, Hodge, Hastings, Smith, Shah, Klinger and O'Keefe. Hard-hitting McCullum, who holds the world record for the highest score by a batsman in a T20 match (158*), could even see his spot being taken by Parthiv Patel.
But this team has never had it easy ever since its creation and even though they aren't the strongest unit on paper, it would be foolish to assume that the Kochi Tuskers Kerala aren't a force to reckon with. Brace yourselves for a few surprises down the line!
The Tuskers host the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first match on April 9 at 8PM.
Squad:S Sreesanth, VVS Laxman, R P Singh, Parthiv Patel, RavindraJadeja, Ramesh Powar, Vinay Kumar, Raiphi Vincent Gomez, KedarJadhav, TanmaySrivastava, Deepak Chougule,SushantMarathe, BalachandraAkhil, MahelaJayawardene (captain), Brendon McCullum, Steven Smith, MuttiahMuralitharan, Brad Hodge, ThisaraPerera, Steve O'Keefe, Michael Klinger, John Hastings, Owais Shah.
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