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Test cricket is like long love ins. It's for romantics who like to take their time, get to know their partners and slowly but surely seduce each other til a thrilling climax a few days later. Sometimes that thrilling climax never comes ( pun intended)!! Instead we end up with neither partner satisfied, but neither partner disappointed either.

Sometimes we get an earlier climax then expected, and like all premature climaxes, this leaves one of the partners bitterly disappointed and unsatisfied.

ODI cricket is more for those that prefer one night stands. A short period to get to know their partners, but pressure is on to get down to business quicker rather then later. These do reach a climax, sometime a thrilling one, sometimes not, but always one partner will be left satisfied, the other disappointed.

Then we have Twenty20 Cricket. This is defiantly for the “wham bam, thank you mam” merchants. No time for formalities, no time for introductions, no time for slow romantic seduction.. It’s straight down to business, no time to waste, it’s straight in, straight out.. No room here for subtlety or feelings, just pure lust.. The climax will be swift, but once again, only one partner will feel satisfied.

The love fest kicks off on Friday. Everyone that’s anyone will be there. The “long love in” types like Dravid and Kallis will mingle with the “one night stand” types like Ponting and Gayle and the “bam bam, thank you mam” types like Sehwag, Yuvraj and Afridi.

The format of this tournament has strict guidelines. Only 4 overseas franchised players will be allowed in each starting X1, and each squad must contain at least 4 young Indian players under the age of 22.

Big hitters will obviously be key in this event. But so will bowlers that have variety and can take the pace off the ball when required, and the calibre of the lesser known Indian players that will be in each teams line-up.

I believe the teams that have the best mixture of the above three elements will have the edge in this tournament and be the likely winners.

I have looked at each squad and have identified the following 2 teams that in my view meet the criteria. I believe both will do very well and I am reasonably confident the one of them will win it outright.

In my opinion, Kings X1 Punjab (Mohali) , should be favourites for this tournament. They are not, they are currently trading at 7.4 on the exchanges and so represent great value.

They are captained by Yuvraj Singh, one of the stars of India’s recent world twenty20 winners. Also in the squad are the classy Sri Lankan pair Kumar Sangakarra and Mahela Jayawardne, the in form Ramnaresh Sarwan and big hitting Aussie Simon Katich.

The bowlers include pacers Brett Lee,  Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan, the man of the match in that world Twenty20 final a few months ago.

The spinning options are Chawla and Powar, both have effective in ODI series lately. The squad also includes exciting Indian youngsters Tanmay Srivastava, Uday Kaul and Ajitesh Argal.

Overall I think this team has all the ingredients required for this format of the game and they are outstanding value.

Delhi Daredevils ( Delhi )  is the other team that I feel represents great value at the current 9.8 on the exchanges.

Captained by the master blaster Virender Sehwag, the batting line-up also includes the explosive talents of AB de Villiers, Tillkeratne Dilshan, Gautam Ghambhir, Shoaib Malik and Dinesh Kartik.

All-rounders Farveez Maharoof and Manoj Tiwary make up an impressive batting lineup and with Mohammed Asif, Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori the three main bowlers, this squad has the balance and the experience to go far in this tournament.

Of course all the teams in this tournament can boast big names and all have a chance to win, but I feel balance is going to be the critical factor here, and I think in that department, these teams from Mohali and Delhi have the edge.

My suggested betting strategy is simple:

In the Outright Market:

BACK Kings X1 Punjab ( Mohali ) for 3 points @ 7.4 on Betfair

BACK Delhi Daredevils ( Delhi ) for 2 points @ 9.8 on Betfair

Futhermore:

Prematch, BACK both of these teams for 3 points a time in EACH of their games in this tournament, apart obviously from when they meet.

I am confident that following this simple strategy will result in a profit overall.

Join me and we could all be feeling very satisfied after six weeks of “ wham bam, thank you Mam”.

Bigjoe.

(IPL info supplied by Cricinfo)