IPL T20 - Why I support Hyd/Blr/Mum/Del

Alright.. I'll accept I was wrong about my first impressions of 20-20 games in the Indian Premier League. I had thought it wouldn't work, not because I am Test cricket fanatic, but mainly because of the confusion around which teams to support. There are 8 teams in all representing 8 cities in India. But this isn't a black-and-white case where I could simply support my home country against any other team. Here were some ways to decide on which team to support?

• First option: One could support one's home town (Hyderabad, in case of my wife), but I couldn't call any of the 8 cities my hometown. Perhaps the answer then would be to support one of the 8 cities that is closest to one's hometown. Problem there too: what to do if one has a series of home towns? In my case, I was born in one place, spent my boyhood in another, studied in another, worked in yet another, and got married to a girl from still another city. I could very easily support 4 out of the 8 teams. I do know a handful of my friends who could perhaps support all the 8 teams because of their various associations to these 8 cities.

• Second option: Support the team that has your favorite players. That's a tough call. The good players are all really well-spread out and it is very difficult to distinguish between the teams. My favorite players in the IPL are (in this order): Gilchrist, Dravid, Sehwag, Dhoni, Laxman, and Tendulkar. So the second option won't work either. BTW, I don't want to start a huge side topic on why I like these players in this order - they are all great players, but here's what edges some players ahead of the others. Of course, being Indian is the biggest edge.
  

1. Gilchrist is the tallest of the Australian dwarfs when it comes to being likeable characters.
   
2. Dravid is among the most hardworking and disciplined players and is a 'deer' gentleman. (BTW, it is my wife who thinks he looks like a deer. I think he behaves like one too - bad for an Indian captain, but that's what I think it is).
   
3. Sehwag is the most outrageous batsman I know considering the batting drawbacks he has - the only thing he hasn't done for me yet is to bat with his shoe-laces tied together - which in any case I doubt would affect his batting.
   
4. Dhoni is a great thinker - he is learning still, and I see him becoming the best Test captain India has ever had - yes, mighty claim that for someone who isn't yet a full-time Test captain.
   
5. Laxman is a joy to watch when he bats, and he is a 'lamb' gentleman. [No, don't expect me to explain what a 'lamb' gentleman means - it means what it means].
   
6. Tendulkar is great enough to make it to the list, and I think I've to explain why he is not at the top of my list - that is because of a few things - he is a "sometimes king" as opposed to an "always king" like Richards, hasn't done a Dravid by scoring a century in every test playing nation, and hasn't won India a World Cup like Waugh and Ponting have.

• Third option: Support the team that paid the least for its franchise. This option would have led me to support the following teams in the order listed. I chose against it - because I found the 5th option much better.
  

1) Rajasthan Royals
2) Kolkata Knight Riders
3) Kings XI (Punjab)
4) Delhi DareDevils
5) Chennai Superkings
6) Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad)
7) Royal Challengers (Bangalore)
8) Mumbai Indians

• Fourth option: Wait for the first 1/3 to 1/2 the series to get over and decide based on which teams are performing well. As of May 4 2008, this option would have led me to support the following teams in the order listed:
  

1) Rajasthan Royals
2) Delhi DareDevils
3) Kings XI (Punjab)
4) Chennai Superkings
5) Kolkata Knight Riders
6) Mumbai Indians
7) Royal Challengers (Bangalore)
8) Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad)

I was close to supporting Chennai Superkings followed by Delhi DareDevils. I decided to change my mind today and go with the 5th option: Support the team that plays fair. So, here's the order of teams I support (based purely on Fair Play awards up until now, determined by the umpires):

1) Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad)
2) Royal Challengers (Bangalore)
3) Mumbai Indians
4) Delhi DareDevils
5) Rajasthan Royals
6) Chennai Superkings
7) Kings XI (Punjab)
8) Kolkata Knight Riders

NOTE: I didn't mention one more option - which was to support 1) Deccan Chargers purely because Laxman chose to let go of a lot of money to get better players into the team. That meant a lot in my opinion. So it's only fair that I now support the Deccan Chargers.

TEAM STANDINGS WITH CLOSE TO HALF THE COMPETITION OVER (6 out of 14 matches per team are over):

TEAM -> # Number of Wins/Matches played
1) Rajasthan Royals -> # 5/6
2) Delhi DareDevils -> # 4/6
3) Kings XI (Punjab) -> # 4/6
4) Chennai Superkings -> # 4/6
5) Kolkata Knight Riders -> # 2/6
6) Mumbai Indians -> # 2/6
7) Royal Challengers (Bangalore) -> # 2/6
8) Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) -> # 1/6