IPL South Africa

The second edition of the IPL is coming to a close and we are two matches away from crowning the champions for this year’s IPL. In complete contrast to last year’s edition, IPL 2 has definitely proved to be even money bet between bat and ball.

Though the dissimilarities between the two editions seem to loom large, it has to be noted that, both the editions have witnessed one important similarity that has made this format of the game a box office blinder. Cricket is never short of surprises, excitement and for obvious reasons it neither runs out of disappointments as well. There is never a game in cricket that goes without coupe de theatre, certainly not in this format. Last season, Rajasthan Royals proved that Big Names are not necessarily the ingredients for success.

This year’s edition has witnessed a similar episode and it has to be said that The Deccan Chargers really did not run out of charge this time around. The Deccan Chargers looked in complete disarray last season, with a batting line up that was tailor made for this format of the game with the likes of Gilly, Gibbs, Afridi and Symmonds in their ranks. This year, the team has really done justice to their potential and has eventually found a place in the tournament which is almost from touching distance to the coveted trophy. Their semifinals tussle against the tournament favorites Delhi Daredevils proved to be ‘Gillyz’krieg! By the time Shewag’s men realized what had hit them; it was curtains down for the DareDevils.

Another surprise package in the tournament is the Royal Challengers from Bangalore. A team that proved no challenge to any team last year has witnessed a sea change this time. I doubt if they endorse Buchannan’s multiple theory of captaincy but they certainly had a tough time around finding the right leader at the helm, right from the word go. The then, England skipper pieterson replaced Rahul Dravid as captain at the start of the tournament but did not find success allured to him as easily as women might have. With his departure midway through the tournament and with his team finding it tough to keep its head out from drenching in complete failure, it was very crucial that they made the right choice in choosing their skipper and it really seems to have paid off by letting the old spin fox Kumble in taking over the team for the stub of the tournament. The team peaked at the right time and with their power hitters backing up, it’s ominous signs for their semifinal opponents The Chennai Super Kings. It really will prove to be a humdinger of a contest between last year’s runners up and this year’s phoenix of IPL.