A month long saga of 20-20 or slam bang cricket, an advertising bonanza and an organisational delight and an exceptional competitive environment in which the matches were played. There were countless number of matches which not only went till the last over but also till the last ball. For the players it was a chance to show that they were really worth the sums of money they were paid to perform.
One thing that I personally like about the IPL is that it has created a platform for youngsters to perform and show their skills to entire world.
Also the experience of playing with International stars at such a young stage surely augurs great for the Indian team. Manish Pandey, Kamran Khan, Ajinkya Rahane and many others showcased their skills to the world. I can bet that noone would have even wondered that Manish Pandey would be rewriting history books by becoming the first Indian to score a century in IPL. Also experienced and older generation stars like Hayden, Gilchrist,Warne,Kumble showed to the world that this not only a young man's game but also for experienced players.
I did not follow the IPL to seriously in the begining as I got bored from too much stuff and also the teams that I supported were loosing. Both Rajasthan Royals and KKR(Here I dont need too say too much as you all know a lot has already been spoken about.) didnt perform too well. But as the results of matches become enthralling I just could not afford myself to miss the spectacle.
Deccan Chargers the way they started looked like they would steam roll everyone in the competition by winning the first four matches. However they too suffered setbacks and just about hobbled and wobbled their way into semi finals. In semis Adam Gilchrist truly showed why he will be remembered as the greatest wicketkeeper batsman by playing an innings of such sublime nature that he single handedly won Chargers the match against Delhi Daredeils.
The finals was a close affair as everyone expexted and the over from Symonds when Taylor and Kohli were out of successive balls was the turnoing point in the match. For me the two outstanding performers for chargers were their two bowlers Singh and Ojha who performed throughout the tournament. It was a delight to see a left arm spinner from India performing so well on the international stage.
RBC Kumble and Dravid showed they are old warhorses and carried the team through. Its a pity that their can be only one winner because for me they both were considering where they finished last year.
The most dissapointing teams were Mumbai Indians and KKR. MI lost probably because their key players klike Jayasuriya and Sachin did not perform well and they lost Zaheer due to injury. Also they lost 3-4 matches in the last over when they should have won. That probably was the telling factor in their inability o qualify for the semis. The KKR would do well to buy some new young talent and Indian players as their team looked seriously out of depth and class in terms of the homegrown players are concerned. Apart from Dada and Ishant Sharma non e of the others lookd like capable of playing at such a level. Even Dada to his high standards had a dissapointing tournament. Probably all the controversies that surrounded the team has had an effect on the performance on the players. The best possible solution would be to change the coach and his staff bing in a new coaching team and add a couple of players while maintaining good team spirit and probably the team might do a CHARGERS!!!!.
Living in Vizag I am a rebel kind of person and was seen by peopla as anti Deccan supporters cause we never used to support them . We always used to support the opposing team. So I am excited abiut the bashing and the mock response i would get when i reach Vizag. I will have plenty on my plate from friends the loyal supporters of chargers whom i had dished out a lot in the first IPL. Its time for me to take some and probably more of the medicine back. But one thing is for sure as hard as they try I still will not be a charger supporter com IPL Next year and we will again start that friendly banter which probably has bought us closer as friends.
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