Bangalore Royal Challengers

BRC's underdog status could give them a head start and, with four impact players in prime form, they could well be in the title race for season two.

After a disastrous first season, the Royal Challengers, reinforced and recharged, are ready to make amends in season two. Dubbed a Test match side by critics, team owner Vijay Mallya has played his part by buying up the IPL's most expensive player in Kevin Pietersen and also appointing him captain. New Zealand's T-20 and one day specialist Jesse Ryder too will make a huge difference to the Bangalore outfit. Having already exchanged Zaheer Khan for Robin Uthappa, the Royal Challengers look an impressive T-20 side at the start of the season.

Along with the three mentioned above, they also have in their ranks specialists like Cameron White and the evergreens Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Mark Boucher.

A fast and furious Dale Steyn and the tremendously accurate Nathan Bracken and Praveen Kumar will lead the bowling department with Cameron White and Anil Kumble providing the spin back up. With a team like this, it is apparent that season one may soon turn into an aberration and BRC might every bit be in the title race for season two in South Africa.

What will give the Royal Challengers a head start is their underdog status. Having ranked seventh in season one, even their most ardent of supporters will be thrilled with a semifinal showing. This will ensure that they take the field with little pressure, often key to bringing out the best from players.

What should also work for the Royal Challengers is the number of their impact players in prime form. In all the things that stand out in a T-20 contest, perhaps the most interesting is the fact that cricket's shortest format, after all, isn't a team game as such. Rather, it is a format dominated by a group of "impact players." Unlike Test cricket, in the T20 format, the team that have the maximum number of impact-players in form often dominate the game.

For the Royal Challengers, Jesse Ryder is expected to have maximum impact at the top of the order. Uthappa, Pietersen, Steyn - who will be playing on home turf - and Bracken are others who have the potential to swing the momentum BRC's way in 2009. With Dravid never far behind, consistently stand-out performances from any four of these men will see the Royal Challengers make the top four in IPL season two.

With an able CEO in Brijesh Patel and an involved team owner in Mallya, there is no doubt that BRC will have all the external encouragement it requires to cause a few upsets.