The country comes first. So we thought and grew up believing. That was until the Indian Premier League came along.
In a calendar running chock-a-block, and the IPL being squeezed in between the World Cup and the West Indies tour, where players like Dhoni could hardly spend a day at home after their World Cup win, it was essential that the Indian cricketers needed some time off. Decisions had to be made – either dilute the IPL tournament by resting the bigwigs for some part of the tournament, or give the West Indies one-day series a miss. The casualty, surprise…. surprise, has turned out to be the one-day series against the once mighty West Indians on their home turf.
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| Dhoni and some big wigs given a break for the West Indies tour. |
No Sachin, Sehwag, Dhoni or Zaheer means that the core of the Indian team has been eroded, and in place, a clearly depleted side will take on the one-time giants of world cricket. This does raise pertinent questions. Can a Parthiv Patel effectively replace a MS Dhoni? Should further thought not be applied to rotating players in a league format as lengthy as the IPL, where sometimes, the cricket itself can be less tiring than the travel and the hype surrounding it? Whoever represents the IPL teams, should not the best represent India?
If the results compromise India’s hard fought position as the top team in the world, the cricket management will really have a lot to answer for - even if talents like Rohit Sharma and Badrinath are getting another chance on the international stage, as result of this.
But if West Indies by any means are being taken lightly by India, one needs to only ask the Bangalore Royal Challengers what difference one West Indian can do to a team’s fortunes. 6,6 (no-ball),4,4,6,6,4 – Prasanth Parameshwaran’s first over for Kochi Tuskers to Gayle said it all. After Chris Gayle, Bangalore have not only won 6 on the trot, but have been scoring at an average of 10 runs an over in the first 6. With also the highest net run-rate in the table, Bangalore is fast becoming the team to beat, largely due to one man who is powering his way this IPL at an average of close to 100 and a strike-rate of close to 200.
The top 2 team positions are of particular importance this season, as the loser of that game will get another chance to play the winner of games between teams 3 and 4 for the finals. With 4 teams, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkatta in the fray for the top 2, it is a tough one to call. For the top 4 itself, only Kings XI maintain an outside chance of making it still, while the other teams can only hope to battle for pride and table positions, while also preparing for the next edition of IPL .
While Mahela and his team, the Kochi Tuskers have done well in bursts upsetting Mumbai and Chennai along the way, Sangakkara must be particularly disappointed, with his team languishing at the bottom of the table. One must particularly feel for this exceptional cricketer, coming after his huge World Cup final disappointment.
The most disappointed, however, must be the Sahara group and their Pune Warriors, who definitely had the goods to go all the way in Jesse Ryder, Graeme Smith, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh and now, Sourav Ganguly, but have just not been able to make an impact. Ganguly did get his game finally against the Deccan Chargers, and showed his class with a run-a-ball 32, which guided Pune home safely. We hope to see this cricketer play the full season next year, with his never-say-die spirit and his divine cover drives.
By and large, this IPL had had lower scores, and teams like Rajasthan have relied on low and slow tracks on their home ground to hold fort. However, to Warne’s chagrin, Chennai were given a belter of a batting track at Rajasthan’s home ground, Jaipur, which led to Chennai running away with the match. Warne had, as a consequence, words to exchange with the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) and its Secretary, which in turn has now filed a complaint to the BCCI against Warne, who just cannot seem to escape controversies.
While the IPL, with all the excitement and entertainment, moves to its last 2 weeks and the battle heats up for the crowning glory, the focus will also shift to England and the West Indies for Sri Lanka and India respectively, where a lot more than the IPL victory dance will be at stake. |
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