Who will you put your money on for the semis?

Watching the Rajasthan Royals get the better of a star studded Punjab Kings I was reminded of a conversation with a fellow cricket aficionado. In any tournament predicting winners is an integral component. The IPL has 8 teams and most of them are well balanced at least on paper with the Rajasthan Royals appearing the weakest of the lot. So we looked at other factors which could differentiate the also-rans from the winners.

Our list for the semi is Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Rajasthan. We picked these ahead of the rest on the basis of their leaders. To use an often abused cliché, its all about leadership, be it business or sports.

These 4 teams are headed by aggressive and street smart individuals and 2 of them have proved themselves at the international level and the other 2 were always touted as brilliant captaincy material but did not get an opportunity to prove their skills

Leadership in the IPL context is more of a challenge as the incumbent does not have the luxury of leading a set of people with a common denominator….same state or country. The IPL outfits are a heady mix of high caliber, high visibility international stars from different climes and unknown local players, getting them to work together as a unit is in itself a challenge in leadership.

Additionally both Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni are known for their ability to pick players with potential and give them the room to perform and deliver a key attribute which assumes added importance in the context of picking a local player over an international star.

The other two Sehwag and Warne are unknown’s in the realm of leadership at the international level but in the limited chances they have had have amply demonstrated they belong to this league.

So here’s to the semis and to the prediction and above all here’s to an exciting time ahead.

- Mahesh Packiaraj (The Viper)