The most romantic thing that could have happened and never would have been imagined by any cricketing pundit was the last year’s underdogs lingering at the bottom of the IPL table – Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers make it to the finals of the IPL Season 2. Lo and behold! They did it. Though Deccan made it in the last over fittingly through the services of RP Singh the tournament’s leading wicket taker it is surely a victory to cricket. Be it Gilchrist’s blitzkrieg in the Semi’s or Kumble’s scintillating turnover of his team after taking the reins everything has been magical.
Hayden’s contribution out of his skin to see the Chennai Superkings reach the Semis albeit a tournament of poor fielding and catching standards was amazing. When a team makes Mcgrath sit in the dugout we can sense the confidence Delhi carried through the tournament though their jinx to enter the final continued. A star studded Mumbai couldn’t manage it due to their continuous middle order failure with the exception of Duminy who was a revelation while Punjab was never the same once they lost Jayawardane to an injury. Then there was the Kolkata team which seemed to be smitten by differences from the beginning and not until the last couple of matches did they seem close to winning. And the summary wouldn’t be complete without the last year’s dark horse, Rajasthan who haven’t been able to be twice lucky. But still kudos to Warne for bringing such young sides devoid of any star names save Smith and himself to the position where they are!
Staged far away from home at such a short notice, it was wonderful to see a huge fan following at South Africa though the aura of Indian grounds was missed. IPL 2 has finally bid adieu to SA and heads for India once again!
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