After 45 days of frenetic, action packed, monotonous overkill of T20 cricket, the IPL has drawn to a close. Some of my friends in the blogosphere have reviewed the IPL to the best possible extent. I will just fill in on a few other details.
People who cannot otherwise plot Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai etc on an India map have turned up in huge numbers to support the franchises. The names of the IPL 2009 franchises have infiltrated the daily vocabulary of many South Africans. Indian cricket has truly gone global.
I hold Old Batsman’s view that the IPL has done a lot of good to Indian cricket. India can now field the most competitive team for the T20 World cup in England. India is unearthing more and more T20 stars, which augurs well for a team that has had a fair amount of international success in this format of the game. But then the IPL has also produced players like Pinal Shah, Azhar Bilakhia (to name a few) who have hardly learnt a thing or two about playing International cricket. These are not the names that are well known in the Indian domestic set-up. They don’t have test match or 50 over experience behind them. From the little I saw of these people, they don’t have the technique to survive in International cricket. The IPL is not helping them improve their technique. It is instead teaching them to play the paddle over fine-leg when they cannot play any orthodox cricket shot to a convincing extent.
Mathew Hayden winning the orange cap, Kumble winning the man of the finals award and Adam Gilchrist decimating Delhi dare devils in the semi-finals are enough indications that retired cricketers too can come to the T20 party. The successes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis only strengthens my conviction that if you have the technique and you are open to experimentation, you can be a success at this format. These retired cricketers can cash in on the limited opportunity available to earn a few extra bucks by playing a couple more seasons.
There are allegations that the whole tournament was played according to a script and most of the matches were fixed. We shall not pay much importance to it, for this is not a tournament that has to be taken seriously enough for match fixing allegations.
The closing ceremony was held in a grand manner raising doubts if it were any World cup event.
Lalit Modi had the final say. As much I hate him for his haughtiness and his ego, I have to appreciate his event management skills. He’s definitely got the stuff to deliver a lecture to MBA students.
6 responses so far ↓
Leg Break // May 25, 2009 at 1:52 pm |
A diversion.
I like the way this has appealed to new fans but seriously, I hope this is not The Future.
12th Man // May 25, 2009 at 4:16 pm |
I think we must start getting used to this Leggie, no matter how much we detest this.
theoldbatsman // May 26, 2009 at 1:35 am |
Was thinking about that technique point today, when one of the papers described David Warner as ‘a Twenty20 cricketer’. There is definitely a danger not just in being typecast but in not having a technique that can keep you at the crease. It’s a bit like abstract art – you have to be able to paint properly before you can do it. If all you can do is paddle it over your shoulder you’ve got a limited lfespan. As you rightly say, that’s the only danger of pumping lots of very young players into the IPL sink or swim style.
Adithya // May 27, 2009 at 10:41 pm |
All’s well that ends well!
alwaysindian // May 28, 2009 at 12:24 pm |
IPL rocked! Deccan chargers won!! they deserve it… awaiting for the next season! and some said it right… All’s well that ends well!
Posts about T20 Cricket as of May 29, 2009 // May 30, 2009 at 4:44 am |
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