New expansion team for CPL Season 2. Mouseketeers 1. Abhinav Mukund (56.14) 2. Dinesh Karthik (38.26) 3. Azhar Ali (39.29) 4. AB de Villiers*+ (48.64) 5. Hasan Raza (48.32) 6. Yuvraj Singh (45.10) 7. Abhishek Nayar (46.10, 29.17) 8. Vernon Philander (27.60, 19.88) 9. Clint McKay (25.84) 10. Suraj Randiv (25.26) 11. Lonwabo Tsotsobe (25.73) 12. Pragyan Ojha (29.95) 13. Dammika Prasad (20.91, 27.77) 14. Chris Woakes (31.79, 24.67) 15. Ahmed Shehzad (45.87) 16. Robin Peterson (25.29, 32.95) 17. James Pattinson (27.33) 18. Michael Hill (34.00)
Round 1 [Pick 2] AB de Villiers Right hand bat, right arm medium. Wicketkeeper-batsman. A batsman of breathtaking chutzpah and enterprise, as well as the skills and the temperament required to back up his creative intent. A fielder able to leap tall buildings and still come up with the catch. A wicketkeeper who is perfectly at ease donning pads and gloves. A fine rugby player, golfer, and tennis player. All AB de Villiers needs to show off his abundant gifts is a ball. Just about any ball. Cricket should be pleased to have him. Few drive the ball as sweetly and to the boundary as regularly, and - in South Africa, at any rate - even fewer possess the silkily snappy footwork required to put spinners in their place. de Villiers is also among the fastest and the most instinctively sensible runners between the wickets. Marry all that with an approach to life that veers between laconic and laid back, and it isn't difficult to fathom why he has been afforded senior player status in the South African team years ahead of his time. de Villiers' potential was recognised years before he made the leap to senior international level as an opening batsman against England at Port Elizabeth in 2004-05. He has batted everywhere from number one to number eight - with the important exception of number three - and has performed well in most of these positions. After a brief slump in form in 2006 and 2007, de Villiers returned to the straight and narrow early in 2008 with a blistering 103 not out off 109 balls in Durban against West Indies. Later that year came one of de Villiers' career highlights, an undefeated 217 at Ahmedabad. It was the first double-century by a South African against India. South Africans do not take easily to the precociously talented, but it helps if they do not come across all precocious. Such is the case with de Villiers, whose lazy smile under an every-which-way thatch of blond hair has helped convince the nation that he's worth feeding despite all that talent. The nation is not wrong. de Villiers adjusts to the requirements of cricket's various formats as effortlessly as someone of his ample abilities should do. So much so that he has yet to fall victim to the curse of selection disputes, a curse that has struck even as accomplished a player as Jacques Kallis. Instead, as a career that should be in its adolescence by the mere measure of time and matches arches ever upward, the only question to be asked about de Villiers is how to deploy him to maximum effect.
Yeah, I can think of a couple too, but wicketkeeper is very high on the priority list. That and a fast bowler, so I thought I'd jump in early and grab de Villiers. Exceptional batsman, more than competent keeper.
I don't see why people don't rate Tsotsobe! I think he'll go alright. He's pretty much the third best bowler in South Africa atm, so I think he's a decent pick and is a touch underrated. Probably took him a bit too early, but I needed a good bowler and he has a good record.
Retired + he was shit before he retired. Hmm, that's a bummer. I just hope it was form and not underrating by Cribb.
