You have seen
the Advt on ‘need for being different’ …. The T20 WC glory is not new to Dhoni
– he won the inaugural one at SA in
2007…………. the finals was against the other traditional rival – Pak
……..the first twist of the match came even before a ball was
bowled. Virender Sehwag's name was missing – down with a groin strain in
the earlier match; his replacement was the debutant Yusuf Pathan, and he opened
! Drawing close, Misbah kept us on tenterhooks – who will bowl
the last over was the Q – experts perhaps wanted the performing spinner
Harbhajan, there were options – but Dhoni chose rookie Joginder Sharma,
surprising many - a huge six in the last
over, which started with Pakistan
needing 13, seemed to swing the match decisively in their favour. Then, with
only one wicket in hand and fine leg in the circle, Misbah went for that scoop
which, not for the first time, ended in tears for the batsman. The ball
unerringly found Sreesanth.
Now suddenly 2
days break for IPL – in view of the election results, where Narendra Modi swept
and Jayalalithaa exceeded imaginations in Tamilnadu, making DMK and many others
draw a blank. The
daze from following India's
national election results on multiple news channels with their psychedelic
graphics and over-the-top news anchors is yet to lift.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, along
with Royal Challengers Bangalore are
fighting a close battle for the fourth playoff spot. This IPL is different as
it had 2 halves – the first leg at UAE encouraged bowlers especially many
spinners too… now the balance is heavily tilted towards big hitters. AB de Villiers was not so great in UAE but
now is on a song especially that flourish against countryman Steyn. In the UAE, the average run rate in 20
matches was 7.55; there were two totals of more than 200, but both of them came
in the same game - the third of the tournament, between Kings XI Punjab and
Chennai Super Kings. However, in 40 innings, there were only 12 totals of 160
or more – now the story is different. Yuvraj
Singh has finally found form, but still RCB is struggling perhaps because Kohli
is not making. Chennai Super Kings have been the most consistent side over the
two legs so far, with an identical 4-1 record.
In the match Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers
– 2 are at different mindsets … CSK is all through – RCB is struggling to make
it. CSK generally plays without much
changes – now came in David Hussey from the commentary box. CSK scratched around setting a target of 139
though they lost only 4 wickets. Raina
made a good 62…. Muralitharan and Starc
opened the attack for RCB. The
conditions were favourable to spinners – Gayle struggled as Ashwin bowled so
well conceding nothing in his first 3.
In the last over 10 were required, with Yuvaraj
on strike .. who will bowl the last over ? …. Badree had 1 (3-0-15-0); Mohit
Sharma who has bowled well throughout the tournament had 2; Ishwar Pandey had
all the 4 ….. Dhoni took the unusual
choice of David Hussey who had gone for runs earlier in his 2 overs … and
eventually lsot the match !!!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
Society Magazine
