The ascendency of India as an economic world power

Indian Premier League’s Kolkata franchise seems to have one of the strongest squads of the league. Captain Sourav Ganguly is the icon player of the side. Kolkata has a balanced batting and bowling line up with the combination of youth and experience. Besides Ganguly, Kolkata has Ricky Ponting, another world class captain. The squad includes the experienced batsmen like Chris Gayle, Ponting and Ganguly along with Twenty20 specialists: David Hussey and wicketkeeper batsmen Brendon McCullum. Zimbabwean Tatenda Taibu is also in the squad. Former Australian Coach John Buchanan will coach IPL Kolkata team.

Gayle is a devastating opener who is the first centurion of the Twenty20 format of cricket at international level. Ajit Agarkar is an effective lower order batsman who can serve well following a sudden collapse in the batting line up. Kolkata’s pace attack is really impressive including the players like Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and India’s in-form pacer Ishant Sharma. Agarkar is also there to support the trio. Actually, I think, Kolkata needs a few more spinners besides Murali Kartik. He is definitely an excellent left arm spinner who has had an impressive season in County Cricket. Gayle and Hussey could effectively support Karthik. I have found 11 members of Kolkata squad so far. They are as follows:

IPL Kolkata Squad:

Sourav Ganguly($1,092,500), Ishant Sharma ($950,000), Chris Gayle ($800,000), Brendon McCullum ($700,000), David Hussey ($625,000), Shoaib Akhtar ($425,000), Murali Kartik ($425,000), Ricky Ponting ($400,000), Ajit Agarkar ($330,000), Umar Gul ($150,000), Tatenda Taibu ($125,000)