POOL X - Ranking By Samish Kilam

POOL X

Rank	Team	Why
1	MegaBytes	They look like the best team of the year. At one point or another, every body has contributed with the bat. Matta adds a whole new dimension in batting (that has been traditionally on the weaker side). Bowling has always been their strength. Now they've Matta too - just in case someone has a bad day. I would like to have that luxury - It is like having a 7 Series to drive, when my S-Class isn't up to the mark ;) Frankly it is hard to find a team in the league that will be a favorite going in against them.
2	Brownstown	Are the champions and are loaded with experience. Good leadership and batting has been their strength. The are good at both setting and chasing totals. Some younger bowlers (who can bat too) have just made them harder to beat. They could be considered slightly weaker in bowling when compared to Megs, but Rehan times two, Imran, Yasir and others will make up for that with the bat.
3	GLCC	Is back with their core, with a little tweaks here and there. With other teams upgrading, GLCC hasn't looked very convincing in the first round as they normally do. They're yet to hit the 5th gear, but with their experience and some new pieces put together, they cannot be counted out, at least not this early in the season ;)
4	Juggernauts	Have a great captain in Anand. They've added some of the best free agent talent in town to their already formidable team. Sriram will head the batting with a lot of support from some new-comers aka Ashwin. Joy and Saxena who have historically been wicket taking bowlers, will add that extra sting to their bowling. They know how to win and are at par with the top 3 teams, if not better.
5	Strikers	May have the best bowling line up after Megabytes, but batting hasn't changed much. However, Tushar has been giving them great starts, followed by some Bevan-ish finishes by Amitabh. Any team that has a bowling attack of Parthiv, Jegan, Amitabh,Ashok and Kapil cannot be taken lightly. Good leadership should take them to top. The question is who'll step up in that role.
6	Gladiators/Bridges	Both teams have had a tremendous first round. Gladiators have some great tried and tested players and good leadership. Bridges have some great young talent - which will be tested for the first time in pool X. Both teams are capable of causing some big upsets. It is hard to pick between the two. On one side, we've Viju with Gumbar and on the other side we've the all-stars in Aditya and Phani. However, the real test for both the teams starts now.
7	Royal Blues	Has great talent from 1 to 11 and are capable of beating any of the top 7 teams. Venkat, Naveen and Vinod can destroy any batting attack. At the same time, the addition of Ghanta Rao has just made them that much better with the bat. A fearless attitude should get them over the hump.
8	Stars	It was a great achievement for this team to come to Pool X last year after losing some big players. This year again, they've played some great cricket to come to Pool X. Rajesh has a good knack of using his talent. In Ram, they've an excellent bowler. But he'll need more support from others if they're to beat any of the top 8 teams. Their batting is stable and can post some good scores with Gopi leading the pack. They've good allrounder in Sachin. They may cause one or two upsets, but in general, it'll be an uphill task for them from here on. Pool X will be dominated by bowlers and you need more than 3 good bowlers to win consistently.