ANSHUMAN GAEKWAD
The IPL fever has certainly gripped the country,the crowds have come in good numbers at all venues to cheer their home teams. It is still a long way to go and a lot of things can change as far as the points table is concerned.
It has been a tournament of some surprising results, disappointments and gains. The
extraordinary results have come from Rajasthan Royals, who were the underdogs before the start of the IPL. Their performance in first match failed to provide any confidence but what revived and rejuvenated that side was the magical spell from the legendary Shane Warne.Royals are the only side who are playing as a team and all credit goes to experienced Shane Warne for his excellent captaincy.Clearly, the world's top players have dominated in the first part of the tournament, with the Aussies shining for virtually every team. Whether it is Michael Hussey or Adam Gilchrist or the two Shanes in the Jaipur team, they have outperformed everybody else.The departure of the Aussies forced to make changes in some teams who were sailing smoothly and they will need to rediscover the winning combination. It is not easy for a team to seamlessly adjust to different playing combinations and it becomes even more difficult when adjustments have to be made halfway through the tournament when the pressure starts to mount.In this regard I will praise Sourav Ganguly who made that adjustment quickly after the departure of Ponting & others.
IPL provides greater opportunities to players from lesser states.Like Swapnil Asnodkar, ignored before this because he plays for Goa, showing good performance for the Rajasthan Royals. Asnodkar may not get a chance to play for India but his performance should inspire other players from smaller states.
Everyone thought that the Chennai Super Kings' will dominate the tournament with their most expensive player,like MS Dhoni,Muralitharan,Hayden.Instead, it's MS Gony who has impressed.Gony plays in the Ranji Trophy for Punjab, but wasn't picked by Kings XI Punjab for the IPL. Chennai picked him instead, and, got the result.Gony has pace and accuracy, he generates good bounce, and he seems to put a bit of thought into his bowling.Also played a good role with his bat. He is a big find from the IPL.Gony will have competition from other new faces. Vijaykumar,Yo Mahesh has been a revelation for the Delhi Daredevils, coming on to bowl after Glenn McGrath.Ashok Dinda, Laxmiratan Shukla,Wriddhiman Saha of the Kolkata Knight Riders has elicited words of praise from experts.Among the spinners, Piyush Chawla, for long on the fringes of the national side, has been a revelation with both bat and ball, and Pragyan Ojha has shown immense promise and Balji made a good come back. Other players who have seized their moment in the spotlight include Shikhar Dhawan, Abhishek Nayar and Ravindra Jadeja, while Prasanta Saha, Mahesh Rawat and Uday Kaul have been impressive behind the stumps. Before the IPL I assumed that if MS Dhoni had a bad run, Dinesh Karthik was the only option.But that is no longer the case - Saha, especially, seems to be a hell of a batsman as well.
The competition between the IPL franchises will definitely help to find new talent, which improves the prospects of men like Asnodkar. The profit motive of the IPL teams has a far better shot at unearthing new talent than the best intentions of the BCCI selectors. So hurray for the IPL, because of which we now greedily eye an abundance of riches from which future Indian teams will be chosen.
CHIVACH SPORTS