Royal Challengers Bangalore had scripted an incredible victory and won the title in the recent IPL tournament by defeating the Punjab Kings by six runs in the final held at Ahmedabad. It was an absorbing performance from the RCB-led by their captain Rajat Patidar, who left no stone unturned to ensure his team’s triumph when the situation mattered. On the other hand, Punjab Kings led by their captain Shreyas Iyer made a valiant attempt to steal the show, but were found wanting from the all-round display of the RCB in crunch-situations. As many as ten teams participated in the coveted tournament and a large number of them were disappointed in the initial outings, but came back with renewed vigour to challenge the qualifiers when their chances fizzled out for the knock-out stages.
Mumbai, however, rose to the occasion, after their inept display in the first few matches by winning six matches at a stretch, but the team led by skipper Hardik Pandiya, had to bow out after a mind-boggling onslaught from Shreyas for a berth in the finals. Delhi, played exemplary cricket by winning the first five matches, ably assisted by their middle-order batsman, Karun Nair, who made a mince-meat of the opposition attack, but the team led by Axar Patil, paled into insignificance after the first-round and failed to capitalise their strong position, despite possessing quality-oriented players like K.L. Rahul. They were also handicapped in the absence of their star paceman, Mitchel Starc, owing to injury. It was a so-near-and-yet case for the bewildered team. A more or less similar problem cropped up for the Lucknow SuperGiants, as despite having prolific batsmen like Mitchel Marsh andNickless Pooran, the team led by their dynamic captain and the wicket-keeper, Rishab Pant, squandered their chances, as they lacked killer-instincts when some matches were well in their hands.
Chennai Super Kings led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had disappointed their fans, who were eagerly looking for their franchise to capture the record sixth title, but the team lacked its punch and much on their chagrin and discomfiture, they could not rotate the strike and accelerate the proceedings whenever the situation mattered. Adding salt to the wound, after the injury suffered by their captain, Rutu Raj Gaekwad, Dhoni, had to take the mantle on his shoulder, but the team made a blunder when Dhoni entered as a lower-order batsman, instead of blunting the opposition attack as a top-order batsman.
CSK misery was compounded when their ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was required to bat ahead of Dhoni. CSK lacked confidence, unlike in the past, and it was amply evident, when they lost some crucial matches from winning positions. Kolkata knight Riders, the defending champion, led by Ajinkya Rehane, failed to display their form that they produced last year and though players of the calibre olf Venkatesh Iyer, Andrea Russell, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey and Chakraborty, tried their level best, but their efforts went in vain.
Sun Risers Hyderabad, had pinned their hopes on their skipper, Cummins and their dashing openers Travais Head and Avishek Verma, ably supported by Ishan Kishant and the South-african dashing batsman, Klaussen, besides their wicket-keeper, Ishant Kshan, but they could not make an inroad, as Head and Verma flourished when their hopes were all over, bar shouting. Though the team did upset the chances of teams like LSG for knock-out stages with their memorable performances, their chances were ruled out after they lost some vital matches.
Gujarat Titans, led by Shubman Gill, who is incidentally going to lead the test team against England from June 20, this year, had satisfied the selectors with his proven captaincy-material and with his opener, Sai Sudarshan, playing an astounding cricket(who was also selected for the forthcoming test cricket in Old Blighty), it was expected that with bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, around, the team would be in a position to lift the title, after their swashbuckling performances till the business-end of the tournament. But, it was too much for them to defend against the Mumbai Indians during the knock-out stage with their poor-fielding that led the opposition to score 229 runs, and it was a tall-order for the GT to outwit their opponent, as the asking rate was too much. Moreover, MI proved beyond doubt that catches win matches, as the GT realised how costly it was when they missed sitters from Rohit twice.
Rajasthan Royals, showed flashes of brilliance when the opening batsman Jaiswal proved his mettle with array of boundaries and sixers, but he could not sustain his form, as the match progressed. Moreover, the captaincy problem cropped when the team management all of a sudden abruptly removed Sanju Samson and replaced him with Prayan Parag to lead the team. With the result, they could not produce consistent performances, which was their undoing, even though the 14-year-old promising youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi created a record by scoring a scintillating ton off a mere 36 balls. It was quite unfortunate that the team did not function as a well-oiled machine when they lost some matches from a winnable situation.
All said and done, the former Indian captain, Virat Kohli, would be highly delighted and immensely pleased, as his important knock in the final made a world of difference to the RCB that won the tournament after waiting for 18 years, and that, too, after reaching the finals for five times around. Importantly, Kohli is associated with the franchise for the last 18 years, and his patience and perseverance paid rich-dividends this year, even though the victory was not achieved under his captaincy. Kohli has also stressed the importance of test cricket, which he duly led with distinction in the recent past and there is no iota of doubt that it must lay the foundation for any cricketer, aspiring to play for India in red-ball cricket.
Not surprisingly, Kohli’s views were echoed by the Punjab Kings head coach, Ponting, who, all along believed that test cricket teaches the fundamentals of the game for the aspiring players. However, sources in the cricketing circle assert that it would be ideal, if the IPL tournaments are reduced to one month, instead of prolonging it for more than two months. A few former cricketers, who preferred to speak on a condition of anonymity, echoed their views.
It was quite unfortunate that as many as ten people were killed and 74 injured when a function was organised at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore to celebrate the victory of the RCB. But little did the Karnataka government realise that there would be a huge rush and a stampede would occur, as the stadium could accommodate only 35,000 people. The state chief minister, Siddaramaish and the deputy chief minister, D.K. Shivkumar regretted the untoward incidents and assured that they would take care of the medical expenses of the injured people. The realisation has, however, dawned on them that there is always a room for improvement and it is imperative on their part to ensure that such drastic incidents do not recur in future.
K.V. Venugopal
