Every time the Indian Premier League comes around, perhaps apart from the very first one as nobody knew what to expect then, fans and interested parties are faced with the dilemma of which team to follow. It is getting more and more difficult as the various editions come and go because of the ties that have been created through the years. It is that time again and this time I have decided that it is the Royal Challengers Bangalore that I am going to back for the ultimate prize. My reasoning is simple; surely a T20 side that has AB De Villiers, Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle in it cannot go another season without going all the way. Of course this is not exactly the most calculated method to figure out which team is best-suited and equipped to win the tournament but I am pretty sure that many of you out there will also be using iffy and sketchy criteria to arrive at the team to follow. There are those of you, of course, who will not watch too much of the IPL but peep at it now and again just to see what's happening, in which case you may well not pick a team. How about just giving it a go to see if you are correct in the end? In more closely analysing the teams and the new players that they acquired at the auction, it really does amaze me how badly they can mess things up. It also leads one to ask the question, who decides which players to buy and which ones to let go? After the four or five matches that have been played, there is no doubt in my mind that a few of the teams are regretting the decisions they made in putting together their squads for the 2014 edition of the Indian Premier League. This is because they will have watched premier international players, whom they decided not to retain, doing very well for their new franchises. I reckon the hardest hit and most affected franchise in terms of losing players and failing to replace them adequately is none other than the defending champions, Mumbai Indians. Along with the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, they let Mitchell Johnson, Dwayne Smith and Glen Maxwell go. While they look just about okay in the bowling stakes, because of the retention of Lasith Malinga, the batting has looked rather thin. It would be a surprise to me if they managed to be anywhere close to the top half of the table this year.
