A money spinner or a threat to pure cricket? Whatever may be the case IPL Season Two was no less entertaining than the first one.
Adam Gilchrist slashes at a wide one from Dale Steyn and is caught at third man boundary by Ross Taylor, leading to an eruption of the capacity crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Only the Indian Premier League can provide that kind of high-octane spectacle. Also, the excitement that foreign players bring to the league is unparalleled, to be sure.
The second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa belonged to the oldies of world cricket. Be it the inspirational tournament-winning leadership of Adam Gilchrist, the merciless hitting by burly Matthew Hayden or the near unplayable bowling of Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble.
To all of these legends, who have retired from international cricket, IPL 2009 provided a new lease of life. Where skipper Gilchrist led the Deccan team from the front with both bat and gloves, Chennai opener Hayden notched up some breathtaking numbers, piling 572 runs in just 12 Twenty20 games and the old war-horse Kumble almost single-handedly fetched his non-fancied team the runners-up tag. The event, where stroke-makers called the shots, also saw players like Herschelle Gibbs (Hyderabad), AB de Villiers (Delhi), Tillakaratne Dilshan (Delhi), JP Duminy (Mumbai), Jacques Kallis (Bangalore) and Ross Taylor (Bangalore) become mainstays of the batting order of their respective sides.
The IPL got the best out of swashbuckling Sri Lankan opening batsman Dilshan. Due to lack of form and injury to Sehwag, Delhi's opening combination could not come up with the goods. Thanks to Dilshan's carefree batting, Sehwag was never missed at the top of the order. Not to forget his trademark stroke - the Dilscoop - which became very popular as Dilshan was hell-bent on going after the bowling in the first 6 overs. The highest run-getter for Delhi in 2009 season was AB de Villiers who took it upon himself to bat till the end of the innings, thereby ensuring that the Daredevils had more than a challenging score to defend almost every time they went out to bat.
The biggest plus for the Delhi team was the performance of 34-year-old Victorian Dirk Nannes. Very much unknown prior to the IPL, Nannes bamboozled the opposition opening batsmen with his bounce and pace and was no less than a fire-breathing dragon.
For Bangalore, Jacques Kallis was a reliable and dependable option at the opening position, while Ross Taylor in the middle-order made sure that runs came thick and fast in the slog overs. He played the fastest knock of the tournament when he blasted a whirlwind 81 off 33 balls including 7 fours and 5 sixes against the Kolkata Knight Riders to help his side chase down 173 at Centurion. Not to forget the role rookie South African all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe played with both bat and ball.
The impact of the foreign players was more than visible on the Deccan Chargers team. Although Gilchrist was the trump card at the top of the order, his opening partner Gibbs never allowed the bowlers to settle down even after losing his skipper early. The middle-order saw big-hitters Andrew Symonds and West Indian Dwayne Smith attack the bowling and get boundaries in the middle and final stages. Towards the later part of the tournament even Queenslander Ryan Harris raised his game to get the crucial wickets in the opening spell and bowl tight overs at the death.
The top-10 run getters in the 54-match event saw only three Indians in the list - Suresh Raina (4th), Sachin Tendulkar (9th) and Rohit Sharma (10th). On the contrary, the top-10 bowling chart was overwhelmingly dominated by the Indians - RP Singh (1st), Kumble (2nd), Ashish Nehra (3rd), Pragyan Ojha (5th), Irfan Pathan (6th), Munaf Patel (7th) and Pradeep Sangwan (8th).
What the IPL 2009 gave Indian cricket was first viewing of previously lesser-known players, where some were able to grab the chance with both hands and some flattered to deceive. The find of the tournament was 19-year old Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey who played a pivotal role in taking the Royal Challengers into the final stages of the competition. Pandey, the only Indian so far to score a century in the T20 League, recorded 168 runs in just 5 games at an average of 64 at a strike rate of 142.37. His best score was 114 against Deccan Chargers.
Few months later he scored 194 in a Ranji match to remove all doubts, if there any were, that his IPL innings was a flash in the pan. Other unheard-of domestic batsman like Tirumalasetti Suman (Deccan) and Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai) too played match-winning hands for their teams, though were not as consistent as Pandey.
The bowling department saw unearthing of a new left-arm spinner in Pragyan Ojha who took 18 wickets in the tournament for the champions Deccan Chargers. Although a prolific performer in the domestic circuit for the last two seasons, Ojha needed a platform like the IPL to showcase his world class talent and his performance there went a long way towards getting him a Test berth against Sri Lanka in November. He claimed 4 wickets in his maiden Test that India won by an innings and 144 runs at Green Park in Kanpur. Another orthodox left-arm spinner who impressed in more than a couple of games was Goa-born Chennai bowler Shadab Jakati, who took 13 wickets from 9 games.
The 2009 event in the Rainbow Nation provided a new breath of life for 30-year-old left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra, who ended up as third most successful bowler with 19 wickets. His good show in the IPL for the Delhi Daredevils handed him a ticket to revive his limited overs career as he was recalled into the Indian ODI team before long. Since his return to the team he has picked up 25 wickets in 16 ODIs, second most for an Indian this year after Ishant Sharma (27).
A surprising fact in the IPL this year was the performance of the ‘icon' players. Though they were amongst the runs but on the whole their display was far from iconic. Not captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009, Sourav Ganguly had a miserable run and it had a direct impact on team's performance: the Kolkatans ended up being at the bottom of the table. Out of the 13 games, Ganguly could manage only 189 runs at a pathetically low average of 17.18.
Although master blaster Sachin Tendulkar started the tournament on a high but his 364 runs from 13 games were not enough to fetch a semi-final place for Mumbai Indians. Yuvraj Singh (340 runs and 6 wickets), right throughout the tournament looked like the only performer for Kings XI Punjab. But he failed to get support from the rest of his batsmen except Kumar Sangakkara (332 runs in 14 games). Bangalore Royal Challengers' Rahul Dravid's average performance (271 runs in 12innings at 22.58) in the tournament was camouflaged by the fact that his team ended up reaching the final.
Many stellar cricket pundits have opined that the league is a threat to Test cricket. Also, many Indian cricketers, intoxicated by money and glamour - IPL's by-products - publicly spoke about their preference of the league over the time-honoured Ranji Trophy. Clearly something is amiss! The debate is still on! It remains to be seen whether the IPL is a breeding ground for top-notch players or merely a money-spinning endeavour, threatening to shred the sacred fabric of the game.
Adam Gilchrist slashes at a wide one from Dale Steyn and is caught at third man boundary by Ross Taylor, leading to an eruption of the capacity crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Only the Indian Premier League can provide that kind of high-octane spectacle. Also, the excitement that foreign players bring to the league is unparalleled, to be sure.
The second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa belonged to the oldies of world cricket. Be it the inspirational tournament-winning leadership of Adam Gilchrist, the merciless hitting by burly Matthew Hayden or the near unplayable bowling of Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble.
To all of these legends, who have retired from international cricket, IPL 2009 provided a new lease of life. Where skipper Gilchrist led the Deccan team from the front with both bat and gloves, Chennai opener Hayden notched up some breathtaking numbers, piling 572 runs in just 12 Twenty20 games and the old war-horse Kumble almost single-handedly fetched his non-fancied team the runners-up tag. The event, where stroke-makers called the shots, also saw players like Herschelle Gibbs (Hyderabad), AB de Villiers (Delhi), Tillakaratne Dilshan (Delhi), JP Duminy (Mumbai), Jacques Kallis (Bangalore) and Ross Taylor (Bangalore) become mainstays of the batting order of their respective sides.
The IPL got the best out of swashbuckling Sri Lankan opening batsman Dilshan. Due to lack of form and injury to Sehwag, Delhi's opening combination could not come up with the goods. Thanks to Dilshan's carefree batting, Sehwag was never missed at the top of the order. Not to forget his trademark stroke - the Dilscoop - which became very popular as Dilshan was hell-bent on going after the bowling in the first 6 overs. The highest run-getter for Delhi in 2009 season was AB de Villiers who took it upon himself to bat till the end of the innings, thereby ensuring that the Daredevils had more than a challenging score to defend almost every time they went out to bat.
The biggest plus for the Delhi team was the performance of 34-year-old Victorian Dirk Nannes. Very much unknown prior to the IPL, Nannes bamboozled the opposition opening batsmen with his bounce and pace and was no less than a fire-breathing dragon.
For Bangalore, Jacques Kallis was a reliable and dependable option at the opening position, while Ross Taylor in the middle-order made sure that runs came thick and fast in the slog overs. He played the fastest knock of the tournament when he blasted a whirlwind 81 off 33 balls including 7 fours and 5 sixes against the Kolkata Knight Riders to help his side chase down 173 at Centurion. Not to forget the role rookie South African all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe played with both bat and ball.
The impact of the foreign players was more than visible on the Deccan Chargers team. Although Gilchrist was the trump card at the top of the order, his opening partner Gibbs never allowed the bowlers to settle down even after losing his skipper early. The middle-order saw big-hitters Andrew Symonds and West Indian Dwayne Smith attack the bowling and get boundaries in the middle and final stages. Towards the later part of the tournament even Queenslander Ryan Harris raised his game to get the crucial wickets in the opening spell and bowl tight overs at the death.
The top-10 run getters in the 54-match event saw only three Indians in the list - Suresh Raina (4th), Sachin Tendulkar (9th) and Rohit Sharma (10th). On the contrary, the top-10 bowling chart was overwhelmingly dominated by the Indians - RP Singh (1st), Kumble (2nd), Ashish Nehra (3rd), Pragyan Ojha (5th), Irfan Pathan (6th), Munaf Patel (7th) and Pradeep Sangwan (8th).
What the IPL 2009 gave Indian cricket was first viewing of previously lesser-known players, where some were able to grab the chance with both hands and some flattered to deceive. The find of the tournament was 19-year old Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey who played a pivotal role in taking the Royal Challengers into the final stages of the competition. Pandey, the only Indian so far to score a century in the T20 League, recorded 168 runs in just 5 games at an average of 64 at a strike rate of 142.37. His best score was 114 against Deccan Chargers.
Few months later he scored 194 in a Ranji match to remove all doubts, if there any were, that his IPL innings was a flash in the pan. Other unheard-of domestic batsman like Tirumalasetti Suman (Deccan) and Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai) too played match-winning hands for their teams, though were not as consistent as Pandey.
The bowling department saw unearthing of a new left-arm spinner in Pragyan Ojha who took 18 wickets in the tournament for the champions Deccan Chargers. Although a prolific performer in the domestic circuit for the last two seasons, Ojha needed a platform like the IPL to showcase his world class talent and his performance there went a long way towards getting him a Test berth against Sri Lanka in November. He claimed 4 wickets in his maiden Test that India won by an innings and 144 runs at Green Park in Kanpur. Another orthodox left-arm spinner who impressed in more than a couple of games was Goa-born Chennai bowler Shadab Jakati, who took 13 wickets from 9 games.
The 2009 event in the Rainbow Nation provided a new breath of life for 30-year-old left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra, who ended up as third most successful bowler with 19 wickets. His good show in the IPL for the Delhi Daredevils handed him a ticket to revive his limited overs career as he was recalled into the Indian ODI team before long. Since his return to the team he has picked up 25 wickets in 16 ODIs, second most for an Indian this year after Ishant Sharma (27).
A surprising fact in the IPL this year was the performance of the ‘icon' players. Though they were amongst the runs but on the whole their display was far from iconic. Not captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009, Sourav Ganguly had a miserable run and it had a direct impact on team's performance: the Kolkatans ended up being at the bottom of the table. Out of the 13 games, Ganguly could manage only 189 runs at a pathetically low average of 17.18.
Although master blaster Sachin Tendulkar started the tournament on a high but his 364 runs from 13 games were not enough to fetch a semi-final place for Mumbai Indians. Yuvraj Singh (340 runs and 6 wickets), right throughout the tournament looked like the only performer for Kings XI Punjab. But he failed to get support from the rest of his batsmen except Kumar Sangakkara (332 runs in 14 games). Bangalore Royal Challengers' Rahul Dravid's average performance (271 runs in 12innings at 22.58) in the tournament was camouflaged by the fact that his team ended up reaching the final.
Many stellar cricket pundits have opined that the league is a threat to Test cricket. Also, many Indian cricketers, intoxicated by money and glamour - IPL's by-products - publicly spoke about their preference of the league over the time-honoured Ranji Trophy. Clearly something is amiss! The debate is still on! It remains to be seen whether the IPL is a breeding ground for top-notch players or merely a money-spinning endeavour, threatening to shred the sacred fabric of the game.
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