McKay T20 form wasn't great so will be interesting seeing if Victoria take the punt on his recent form and hope he comes right or go with someone else.
I don't think they need to use McKay. They've got the edge in pace with Siddle and Harwood alone, but they've brought young Pattinson along for a reason and with the shape of their lineup, they have license to use him. I think he could be one of a few big surprises in that squad. Even those 3 core batsmen could be surprising, because I don't think people realise how dangerous they are.
White, Hodge and David Hussey have as many runs in Twenty20 as Gambhir, Dilshan, Sehwag, Shah and Karthik. All three of them have better averages and only Sehwag has a strikerate that is comparable to the likes of White and Hussey. If you look at the number of 50s scored by both Delhi and Victoria's players, it's about the same even though on paper Delhi have a lot more big names.
Of course, you point out that they're still outnumbered, but is that actually as big a deal as it sounds? The shortest format has some intricacies. Consider what you think is the best possible Twenty20 innings and then ask yourself how many other batsmen would you need down the other end? T20 batting is often about a very small section of the order playing exceptionally well on the day. Even your number 6 might as well be a bowler who can hold a bat if your guys up the order are just that reliable.
But just as we know so much about those star batsmen, have seen a fair bit of Siddle and probably enough of Harwood or McDonald too, there are plenty of high risk players in there. The openers in particular; their best is incredibly good, but they have a habit of inconsistency. I was a little surprised they left out Chris Rogers. Wade is a superb talent with bat and gloves, but he comes into T20 very inexperienced. The spinners too, could be interesting. Will they be able to handle those Indian batsmen? More to the point, will they be able to put as much pressure on opponents as the likes of Mishra or Mendis could do to the Vics? In any case, it will be riveting to see the great variety of spin bowling on offer.
On that note, there is some real potency in the bowling of Wayumba. Maharoof is a familiar name and even David Lloyd knows who Ajantha Mendis is, but wait, there's more! Udana showed us his slippery slower ball in June for the World T20 and we saw some genuine class from Herath in Test cricket later on. However, the batting doesn't rest on too much. Jayawardena may be a star, but T20 isn't where he plays his best. They have the sort of team build that really needs the bowlers to carry the game and inflict a low total.
This group is certainly worth its low betting returns, but the value here is all in the viewing.