The well balanced team in both the editions of the IPL. They were the runners in the inaugural edition of the tournament. They have a terrific batting line up mainly consisting of power hitters suiting the format of the game and they have a mediocre bowling to back up their lengthy batting line up.

The opening pair tells everything about the team, Mathew Hayden and Parthiv Patel, both being swashbuckling players. Hayden in particular can damage any bowling attack single-handedly. The strategy would be both Hayden and Parthiv would go after the bowling for the first six overs recklessly without bothering about losing their wicket. Then they have Suresh Raina coming in at number 3 who could play both spin and pace with extreme ease. The middle order comprises of their captain Dhoni, Morkel, Flintoff/Oram and Badrinath. All these batsmen need no explanation about their batting prowess. And the bowling department has the services of Manpreet Gony who was amongst the leading wicket takers of the previous edition, Lakshmipathy Balaji who was the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the first edition. Last but not least they have the world’s best spinner to bowl for them, Muthiah Muralidaran, who is a great menace to any batsmen.

On the whole it is a team with a good combination of batsmen and bowlers and they are expected to win the title this time though they are down the points table with some early losses in the tournament.