The IPL 2009 has completed almost one third of its total span. I guess we have seen enough of the teams to say who is hot and who is cold. I write this blog immediately after a wonderful game between the Delhi Daredevils and the Rajasthan Royals, which the later won thanks to a brutal assault on the Delhi bowlers by the elder Pathan from Vadodara [these days famous in the blogging world as Shegra Pathan, thanks to “Fake IPL Player”]. Some teams have been exceptional; some have been woefully bad. Some of them fluctuated from good to bad and reverse. So I have decided to classify them into three groups – “hot”, “hot one day cold next day” and “cold”.

Following is my take on the “hot” teams at this point of time in the tourney.

Deccan Chargers: Clearly the “red hot” team in the competition. They were the worst team last season. But this season, they can’t take a step wrong. Many a times I wonder how this happened. They didn’t do any lavish spending for this season; nor have there been any drastic change in their side – the only change being Fidel Edwards [what a season he is having]. Momentum is something that plays a lot of significance in the T20 game; and be rest assured that this team has momentum with them. Gilchrist has been good – both as a batsman up the order as well as a captain. The batting looks rock solid with Gibbs and Rohit Sharma in the top four. The bowling is exceptional as well with Edwards, RP Sing and Ojha all in some serious form. Any team that can leave out either of Dwayne Smith or Scott Styris has got to be a fantastic team. But one thing they are really brilliant and a cut above the rest is in their fielding. This team is without doubt the best fielding team in the competition so far.

Mumbai Indians: Had an indifferent season last year; where there lost lots of matches initially; then won quite a bit in a row; and then again lost a lot in a row. Sachin Tendulkar seems to be a man on a mission this tournament so far. And never write off his opening partner Jayasuriya. Bring to the mix the latest sensation in international cricket JP Dumminy. That’s a batting order too good to be true. The bowling is pretty good as well – Zaheer, Malinga and Harbhajan being the key bowlers. I would be extremely surprised if this team has a season similar to what it had last year. This is too good a team to fail.

Delhi Daredevils: This is a team filled with daredevils. There is no other definition for a team that has loads of mavericks playing. Batting lineup is as good as it can get – Sehwag, Gambhir, deVilliers and Dilshan – mouth watering isn’t it. They have steam rolled all opposition so far till tonight; where they were banished by a hurricane innings by Yousuf Pathan of the Rajasthan Royals. One problem that I see for this team is that the openers are not clicking according to their expectations. The bowling looks good as well – especially with the two spinners – Vettori and Mishra that they have in their lineup. The wickets in South Africa giving some unexpected assistance to spinners in this tournament would ensure that they would have a significant role to play in the entire tourney. The seam bowling is also good – Dirk Nannes [who was surprisingly picked over McGrath] and Nehra has done enough so far to make me feel that this would be a formidable lineup.

I would be really surprised to see if any of these teams don’t qualify for the semi finals. I know its not the most wisest of things to predict so early in the tourney; but by present form, these three should go through to the semi finals. I would be more than happy to see my prediction go wrong; because if that was to happen, some of the other teams would have to play exceptionally well. That would really make the tournament a lot more thrilling…

Now comes the three teams whom I would call as “hot one day, cold the next day”. Three teams come in that category – Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Superkings and Kings XI Punjab. These have been teams that are consistently inconsistent.

Rajasthan Royals: The fairy tale story team of last year is struggling to bring in any level of consistency this season. Captain Fantastic continues to weave his magic; the bowlers are dong their jobs; the problem area is the batting. They seem to be woefully out of touch. Smith is extremely scratchy – the most I have ever seen from him. This team depends a lot on him. If they want to have any hopes of going ahead in this season, he better comes back to form. They have some ruthless hitters in Yousuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja and Masscarenes. But for them to be effiective, the top order needs to fire big time. Maybe Smith needs to change the way he plays; and play the role of the anchor. Bet Shane Warne to come up with a gem. He has got one this year as well – a slinging leftie from Azamgarh – Kamran Khan. Someone who hasn’t played a single game, is now all of a sudden the key player of the team. The bowling is holding good in Munaf, Kamran, Masceranes and Warne. They just need the batting to explode for the team to fly high this year as well. How much would I love to have the fairy tale repeat itself.

Kings XI Punjab: Finalists last year are struggling this year. The loss of key players – Marsh, Lee and Sreesanth [oh yeah, the crazy guy was actually useful last year] this year has affected them badly. They seem to be a lost lot. And having perhaps a strategically poor captain is not helping them either. Yuvraj Sing is a wonderful batsman; but as a captain, he has been really poor. The batting is clicking in patches; the bowling doesn’t instill a lot of confidence. The more that I look into this team, the more pessimistic I am on this team qualifying for the semis. If they are to qualify, they would require some wonderful individual performances from their key players – especially their captain. When Yuvraj is on song, there is nothing much better than that…

Chennai Superkings: Before the tournament started, they were the odds on favorites to win this season. Sadly, nothing has gone according to plan. If you look at the lineup, there is only one word that comes in your mouth – awesome. Some of the best hitters in the business stud that lineup. But still that consistency is not there in the team. The main problem is their bowling. Gony is not as effective as what he was last year. You really don’t know which Balaji is going to turn up every day. And then they expect Joginder Sharma to bowl four overs every game [that is asking a bit too much]. They need to have a serious re-look at their bowling, if they want to find themselves having a crack at the semi final spot. And Dhoni does have a problem up his sleeve here. Lets see how captain fantastic reacts to such an adversity. The batting is more or less settled with Hayden in top form. They need the bowling to settle down quickly. Guess they have the exactly opposite problem as what the Rajasthan Royals have...

Now for the two cold teams of the tournament – the Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers. They have been the real dud teams of this season – uninspiring and boring to watch. AT no point of time do they give any sort of confidence to you. I guess its not ironic that the team owners of these two teams are the most flamboyant ones – who think they are bigger than the team.

Kolkata Knight Riders: This is one team that doesn’t know what it is to win. It’s a team filled with contradictions. The coach has one view point; the captain has another; while the senior members of the team want to take it in an entirely different direction. Its like the four wheels of a car pulling the car to four different directions. It just doesn’t have a settled look to it. The bowling is hopelessly weak. The batting lineup has some names that would do well in the T20 format; but they are all failing with an alarming regularity. This is one team that people like to hate. When modesty is not the best forte of the team as well as the team owner, no wonder people hate this team. I don’t see this team going anywhere. They will languish in the bottom half all through the tournament. And for the next seasons, heads are bound to roll…

Bangalore Royal Challengers: Hopeless. That’s the word that suits this team the most. There has been enough written about this team all the while; and I bet there was nothing good written. This team needs to be dismantled. At least that would take away the torture that we supporters of this team have to go through every game…

The disastrous performances of these two teams tell us one big lesson – flamboyance doesn’t give results. What is needed is some hard work. Hopefully at least in the next season they would understand this. These two teams would be in fierce battle this entire tournament – for who takes the last spot in the table. They are playing not to be the best – but to be the worst…