The IPL-5 Report

When Super Kings scored 190, it was evident that a hat-trick is not far away for the Men in Yellow and comparisons started with the actual Men in Yellow of international cricket. But only few would have realized the importance of the last over from Shakib Al Hasan who restricted CSK from not reaching 200.

A committed, all-round performance throughout the season from the Knight Riders ended with them being crowned the champions of the fifth edition. It would have been less interesting if any other team grabbed the trophy. That was the aura created by the KKR players. Jacques Kallis, for once, would have felt the happiness of leaving the chokers tag behind.

This year’s edition had everything that made people turn their head towards it and lend their ears as well. Right from blistering batting, hair fluttering wickets, stop at switch hit, aerial catches, night-marish last 2 overs, common-sense fielding, mind games, on the spot dissent, last over finishes and till off-field arguments, shame, drugs and match fixing allegations.

The reason why IPL was found was to give the pool of Indian domestic players a chance to play their highest game and as well earn a bit. Fans and critics who watched right from the beginning will tell you that this year’s IPL has brought out great future talents for India and there have been some performances which aided the team. But the report card doesn’t say so. Four out of top five contenders of the Orange Cap were Indians but then none of them finished first. The world never remembers the next to best. While two of them are current international openers, they couldn’t even get anywhere near the 733 set by Gayle. The situation is worse in the leading wickets table. You can spot an Indian only at the fourth spot and Umesh Yadav, a promising future, resides there. The irony is he being a fast bowler when India boasts of spin talents. Surprisingly Piyush Chawla heads the list of Indian spinners but managed only overall tenth while Sunil Narine finished second.

It’s good to see players like Parvinder Awana, who finished on top in the last Ranji season, has performed well in the IPL as well, but one other area of concern is team’s too much dependence on foreign players. One classic example was the Daredevils camp with and without Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene and Morne Morkel. But flashy names alone won’t do the job. Pune Warriors had the resources but couldn’t rise up to the big occasions.

The most remembered part of this IPL will be the competition that went on till the last league game to decide on the last 2 qualifiers. Neither of the earlier editions had this privilege. Even after everything is decided one cannot conclude whether a team deserved to be in the place they hold now. No one would have thought in their wildest of dreams that the Champions League champions will have to qualify to defend the title later this year.

Everything can’t go smooth always. A happy ending is made more happier only after crossing the most difficult of obstacles and the IPL definitely had mountains to cross. First the match-fixing in Indian domestic arena rocked the boat hard. The allegations haven’t been proven but one can hope that the BCCI digs deep into it regardless of the shame it might bring. Second, was the assault which pulled in the judiciary, went on and created a situation where voices were raised against the whole set-up and immediate ban of the tournament. The most unwanted controversy anybody would have liked to be involved in and which got settled as the IPL-5 moved to its twilight phase made everybody forget the essential means of IPL and other genuine players involved. Third was the red-handed caught act at a rave party and the best explanation given was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I wonder if there were any team rules which allowed just 2 of them to escape into the night? Finally, man handling. To make situations better, there should be a rule that only players and staff are allowed to enter the playing arena and not even the team owners should be allowed to cross the boundary rope. The owners should be aware that they are not the stadium owners.

Leaving aside the grey side, with more inventions by players themselves and with the jealousy that is being added to the sport these days, the fair play award has been the stand-out innovation of the IPL right from its inaugural. For victory, a captain can go to an extent to even start a war with the umpires and players take on their own time in the death so they get their field right, forgetting precious time is being wasted. A team, not just on a given day but throughout the edition has to sustain such pressure to be crowned as a best fair play team and going by the saying, Rahul Dravid’s team does deserve it a 100 percent.

Controversies come and go. Only the best part is cherished throughout. The best part on field apart from cricket is the post match presentation of Harsha Bhogle after Rajasthan won against Pune. When both the captains were called, the usual routine would have been to ask about each team performances or very rarely a touch upon their retirement lives. But Bhogle not only stumped the audience but also surprised the captains by asking ‘How long have you known each other?’ and finishing off his discussion by saying ‘the true ambassadors of Indian cricket’. Matches may sometimes look boring and one sided but discussions like that are the best part sometimes for fans for having patiently watched till the end. Commentary and commentators are there to complement cricket. Kudos to Mr.Bhogle.

This IPL can be termed as one of the complete contests witnessed and produced the finest of contests that can happen in a game of cricket which can happen over a plate of supper. The IPL is definitely here to live, what ill luck might attack it. And however much other sorts of entertainment looks to overtake cricket’s own glitz and glamour, true fans will always make sure cricket stays at the top of the pyramid.

It’s only cricket that wins.