A Season of Sixes

The IPL has proved to be a great platform for showcasing cricketing skills through its teams and their players

BY RITAM MITRA

Rajasthan Royals

The third season of the IPL was every bit as big as the last two seasons, and then some. The competition was fiercely close (with the unfortunate exception of Kings XI Punjab) and saw the tournament end with only one dead rubber played, between Mumbai and Kolkata in the final round match. Even so, there was a mathematical chance of Kolkata qualifying for the final if they somehow

Kings XI Punjab

beat the Mumbai Indians by 175 runs in their final match or, after being sent in to bowl first, concede 317 runs and chase it down in 1 ball! With a panel of leading cricket fans (who are often more “expert” than the “experts” themselves!), here’s a look at each team’s season and favourite fan moments. Here are the wrap-ups for the 2010 IPL.

Unfortunate is the one word that sums up the Kings XI season. Let down by a string of poor bowling performances (including those two infamous last overs by Irfan Pathan and Brett Lee), the side was completely reliant on their two Sri Lankan heroes, Sangakkara and Jayawardene (who proved to be the surprise of the tournament). Although they scored more runs than five of the other teams, they conceded over 100 runs more than anyone else in their bowling “efforts”. However, a strong finish to the season allowed them to mess up the other teams’ chances (and Kolkata fans in particular will forever hold a grudge).

Parneet Bhatia’s Unforgettable Jayawardene’s 100 vs Kolkata, helping them chase down 200 with absolute ease.

Forgettable: Dhoni’s blistering knock in their final round match which left Punjab in tatters as usual, and Knight Rider fans in tears

A dismal start to the season proved to be the difference between a semi-final spot and seventh place. With three consecutive losses, then four consecutive wins, the up-and-down season was too much for the young side to handle in the crunch moments. The season was further marred by the controversy surrounding talented young all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s ban from this edition, due to salary breaches. Could it also have been Warne’s last season of IPL?

Priti Sharma’s Unforgettable moment: Yusuf Pathan’s breathtaking 37-ball hundred almost chasing down a huge total against Mumbai in the opening match.

Forgettable: Exactly the same.

Chennai Super Kings

Lucky to be through at all, let alone crowned champions. The Super Kings were looking very vulnerable at several stages throughout the tournament and somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory twice – failing to chase down 136 against Punjab and failing to defend 188 against Kolkata. However, it was through their ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (as well as Raina’s absolute brilliance) that saw them through in the end. CSK produced the find of the tournament in Murali Vijay – who earned himself a callup to India’s T20 World Cup squad in place of Virender Sehwag.

Unforgettable: Ajay Balakrishnan sums up the thoughts of many, saying “Definitely Dhoni’s escapades in that final match of the group stage”, where Dhoni blitzed a fearsome half-century including two of the biggest and most clutch sixes ever seen. Forgettable: Losing to Punjab in a Super Over, when the match could’ve been won several times.

Delhi Daredevils

It is absurd how a team which is consistently the strongest on paper, consistently fails to reach the final. Delhi boasts what should easily be the strongest batting line-up in the competition, but was let down by several top-order failures and a poor team discipline. An explosive top order of Dilshan, Sehwag and Warner, three of the most fearsome hitters in the game, should have combined for totals upwards of 500 on at least a few occasions, but ended up with occasional brilliance and patchy form. You know you’re in trouble when Virender Sehwag is your side’s most economical bowler.

Divesh Vashist’s Unforgettable moment: Warner’s blistering century against the Knight Riders. Forgettable for Divesh, however, was Gambhir’s poor running between the wickets – his three consecutive run outs cost them at least two games.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Another year, another exit. Kolkata fans, including this reporter, are left in the rain again. Shah Rukh Khan’s inspirational tweets were rendered useless, and KKR was once again, the butt of many jokes in this year’s IPL. After Mumbai’s strong march to the finals, KKR now remains the only team not to have made the semi finals in any of the three seasons, and it is hard, even as a fan, to dispute their hopelessness.

Ritam Mitra’s Unforgettable moment: Ganguly angling backwards in a spectacular fielding performance against Delhi, a win which he single-handedly scripted. Forgettable: Not so much a moment as a drawn out Knightmare – Ishant Sharma’s uselessness at US$900,000.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Probably deserved to be in the final alongside the Mumbai Indians, and but still feature in the top three as a Champion’s League side. The Challengers’ season took off, thanks to an absolutely stunning performance by Jacques Kallis, who stood undefeated after almost two weeks of competition; an amazing feat considering he opens the batting. The season saw Bengaluru on top for much of the competition, until a rampant Mumbai stole their thunder. However, the side will be happy with making the semi finals two years in a row, following a disastrous first season.

Unforgettable for Sudarshan Arvind was Kallis - this IPL season proved to be a catalyst for the old warrior, who finished with the second-most runs. Forgettable: The baffling under-selection of Kevin Pietersen, who finished the series having played only 7 matches with the astonishing average of 59 and strike rate of 150.

Deccan Chargers

Nerves of steel, absolute grit and teamwork saw Deccan Chargers through the group stage in second place. Deccan looked to be resigned to a fate in the bottom two until a sublime run of five wins leading up to the semi final saw them reach the heights they set exactly a year ago. They were disappointing in the semi against Chennai due to yet another set of failures from serial culprits Gilchrist and Gibbs, but were lucky to feature at all.

Unforgettable for Rahul Mooray Pasala was definitely the abysmal performance in the third place playoff, scoring just 86 runs. Forgettable: Losing to Chennai in the semi final after being set only 143 to

Mumbai Indians

Impossible to sum up the season with quite enough superlatives. Where do we begin? Sachin’s unfathomable run of form in all forms of the game? Kieron Pollard’s brutality? How Saurabh Tiwary must be Dhoni’s long-lost twin? Mumbai’s season took off when Sachin started hitting his straps, and since then every single member of the side has contributed. Their bowling has been key; Harbhajan, Malinga and Zaheer Khan have been brilliant and should be forces to reckon with in the World Cup.

Unforgettable for Rajesh Dave was: Sachin Tendulkar’s sublime knock against the Rajasthan Royals, blasting 20 in the final over and setting up the win that saw them into the finals. Forgettable: There were barely any negatives, until the final when Kieron Pollard was held back till the fall of the sixth wicket. Chennai were lucky to win the finals, actually – it was Mumbai’s game throughout.

And Finally..

Season 3 of the IPL was, like both other seasons, long. The closeness of the competition this year, though, left a much sweeter taste in the mouth (until the off-field controversies at the time this article was being written). Love it or hate it, the competition this year was at a fantastic new level and it was very refreshing to see such talented classic stroke-play by the likes of Tendulkar and Kallis infused with the explosive fireworks by young powerhouses such as Robin Uthappa and Saurabh Tiwary. Bring on IPL 4 – with or without Modi!