IPL 2014: The perfect end game

Kolkata Knight Riders ended the tournament in a perfect fashion

It’s well established that a league format rewards consistency throughout the season, but, when seen over a period of time, teams that end strongly tend to finish on top. This is probably best highlighted even in the 100 metres sprint, where Usain Bolt (not the greatest starter) seems to canter home thanks to his late burst. In Europe’s tougher football leagues, too, the winner seems to be the team that does best during the last couple of months. And this has been once again been highlighted by the terrific performance of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 7.

Of course, by adding a knockout and a final, the IPL format allows a relative low performer a chance to knock out the most consistent teams; even so, teams that improve towards the end seem to thrive on the late momentum and deliver the end result. So was the case with KKR this season, and they certainly won the trophy in some style. By chasing 200 in the final, they made sure that the detractors didn’t have much to take away.

A miserable run in the United Arab Emirates gave the Knight Riders a nothing to lose attitude, and I think, with the team they have, that that attitude serves them well. With Gautam Gambhir at the helm, a cautious approach seems to be detrimental to the team, and it’s only when they play with a little freedom do they deliver their best.

Kings XI Punjab started strong and then did enough to be at the top of the table by the end of the league stage, but the momentum was gone before the season had reached its business end. While they were certainly deserving finalists, they just seemed to have run out of that end thrust that takes the winners over the line. Take nothing away from them, though: they played a final worthy of potential winners, and it was their bowling that was just a little bit short in the end.

There was, however, much to take away from the season: a few glimpses of Yuvraj Singh of the old, a Virender Sehwag blinder, Yusuf Pathan’s blitzkrieg, the never say die attitude of Chennai Super Kings (with the most consistent IPL player in Suresh Raina), a Robin Uthappa revival, and the terrific performances by the younger brigade of Indian cricket, which for me was the icing on the cake. While their more senior counterparts struggled with consistency, a lot of the youngsters played with the confidence that this format allows. Not just the batsmen, the bowlers, too, showed a lot of guile and style that can only stand them in good stead as the days go by.

Some of the catching, too, this season has been stupendous, but, overall, the fielding from all sides showed mixed signals: dropped catches were as much a reason for losses as great catches and run-outs were for wins. Also, gigantic expectations from marquee players seem to be weighing them down, rather than giving them the freedom to play their natural game.

Honestly, players like Virat Kohli should enjoy this tournament a lot more and play with a lot more freedom than they do for India; instead, the responsibility laid upon them seems to be holding them back. It’s the price to pay for having astronomical sums paid for them, especially in the glittering light of the media, and it might be a minor downside in what is otherwise turning out to be a successful saga in Indian cricket.

Overall, the unpredictability of the game has once again shown that the episodes of spot-fixing lie forgotten, and individual brilliance keeps the newspapers busy for all the right reasons, which gives me enormous hope for the seasons to come. Managed well, this thing that we’ve got (the IPL of course), has the potential to become a fantastic local league watched all over the world. Considering only nine countries play this game seriously at the international level, that is a good enough achievement.

Let’s thank the players for ending this season on a high!