The World Cup fever is still on but the IPL teams are getting their house in order before the tournament starts on April 8.Defending champions Chennai Super Kings have got a new bowling coach and they have also roped in a pair of replacements for injured players. It's implicit that former Australian paceman Andy Bichel will be the CSK bowling coach for the forthcoming season. Venkatesh Prasad, their former bowling coach, has joined Team Kochi and that prompted CSK to look for a replacement.
Bichel has IPL experience, he worked under John Buchanan for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2009 season. "He is a good coach and will be able to guide our boys," a member of the team management told. Meanwhile, Australians Ben Hilfenhaus and Chris Bailey have been ruled out with injuries and CSK have roped in Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga and New Zealand paceman Tim Southee as their replacements. Tharanga went unsold in the IPL auctions but has been in fine form in the World Cup and the CSK authorities didn't waste any time to bring the left-hander under their fold.
Southee, on the other hand, came in place of Hilfenhaus, who is nursing an injury. "It's good to have on board, particularly coming out of such a great recent tournament at the World Cup. It's a complete bonus for us at the moment to be able to get our hands on such a quality player," a New Zealand website quoted assistant coach Steve Rixon. "Tim's recent form at the World Cup indicates that he handles those conditions beautifully," he added. The 22-year-old took 18 wickets at an average of 17.33 during his team's campaign in the six-week tournament on the Indian sub-continent.
The CSK team management is also waiting for the clearance of players like Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger from Cricket Australia. The Aussies have international commitments against Bangladesh and these players can be part of IPL only if they are not playing the series. The CSK players have been asked to gather in Chennai from April 1 and the practice, too, will start pretty soon. "There are only three Indian players MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and R. Ashwin in the CSK squad. They will probably join on April 6 while the rest will come in batches," the official added.
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Bichel has IPL experience, he worked under John Buchanan for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2009 season. "He is a good coach and will be able to guide our boys," a member of the team management told. Meanwhile, Australians Ben Hilfenhaus and Chris Bailey have been ruled out with injuries and CSK have roped in Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga and New Zealand paceman Tim Southee as their replacements. Tharanga went unsold in the IPL auctions but has been in fine form in the World Cup and the CSK authorities didn't waste any time to bring the left-hander under their fold.
Southee, on the other hand, came in place of Hilfenhaus, who is nursing an injury. "It's good to have on board, particularly coming out of such a great recent tournament at the World Cup. It's a complete bonus for us at the moment to be able to get our hands on such a quality player," a New Zealand website quoted assistant coach Steve Rixon. "Tim's recent form at the World Cup indicates that he handles those conditions beautifully," he added. The 22-year-old took 18 wickets at an average of 17.33 during his team's campaign in the six-week tournament on the Indian sub-continent.
The CSK team management is also waiting for the clearance of players like Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger from Cricket Australia. The Aussies have international commitments against Bangladesh and these players can be part of IPL only if they are not playing the series. The CSK players have been asked to gather in Chennai from April 1 and the practice, too, will start pretty soon. "There are only three Indian players MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and R. Ashwin in the CSK squad. They will probably join on April 6 while the rest will come in batches," the official added.
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