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IPL 2012: for better and for worse



India is a country which breaths cricket; and the fervor surrounding the fifth DLF IPL was almost palpable. In the midst of all the milestones and controversies which marked this tournament, there were some moments which you wanted to freeze and others you hoped never had happened. Through this long journey, there were many players, owners and umpires who have challenged my cricketing knowledge.

Beginning with the most upsetting episode of drama; the dismissal of Deccan Charger’s (DC) skipper Kumar Sangakkara by the Mumbai Indians (MI). The ruckus created by MI captain Harbhajan Singh accompanied by Munaf Patel was shocking! The scene got dirty when the umpire declared Sangakkara Not Out, and the MI players literally forced the third umpire’s intervention.

Though they had made a strong appeal, their conduct on the field was Barbaric! This incident was also upsetting to the commentators who insisted that players need to respect the decision of the umpire and should not challenge his discretion.  

Another shocking dismissal was witnessed in a recent match between Deccan Chargers (yes, DC again!) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Shikhar Dhawan from DC was obviously not out but was dismissed following a rather unfair appeal by wicket keeper and South African captain AB de Villiers.

The dismissal which was labeled as ‘clean bowled’ was in fact not all that clean! The ball which hadn’t hit the bat, hadn’t hit the stumps (or the bails) and caught by AB, had created an intensity that caused a bail to collapse. The ball had long passed the stumps and it was a good two seconds later that the bail fell and the appeal made.

Talk about fair play and you’ll see a Dwayne Bravo bumping into players running between the wickets. This instance in the match between Cheenai Super Kings (CSK) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) had occurred not once, but twice.

First there was an Indian player at the receiving end of Bravo’s unfair restrictive strategy followed by Australian cricketer and temporary captain David Hussey. Though it was Hussey who had the last laugh; he pushed the bowler out of his way, earned a run and saved his wicket!

And lastly, the fact that jerks me is that the 2 time IPL trophy winning and this year’s semi-finalist team CSK is owned by none other than BCCI’s president N Srinivasan. This kind of ownership itself raises a lot of questions about fair play. Isn’t it possible a man as powerful as him in the cricket world can pull some strings and push his team up the points table?

Questions like these and many others have boggled many a minds. But this edition of DLF IPL has also witnessed some amazing successes, like DC’s Dayle Steyn who took 3 wickets of RCB and conceded a mere 8 runs. The commentator himself was astonished by his awe-inspiring spell and repeatedly said, ‘Can you believe it!’

Not to forget RCB’s ‘hard-hitter’ Chris Gayle who was a star performer in the match versus Delhi Daredevils where he single-handedly hit 13 sixes and led his team to victory.

A special mention also to the young Steven Smith of Pune Warriors India (PWI) whose impeccable and flawless fielding effort was the highlight of all PWI matches.

Lastly, an event which was my personal favourite was the breaking of the home ground jinx for team DC. DC suffered from a losing spell in their home ground. This however changed with their victory this IPL season. The home crowd was so ecstatic; they burst firecrackers to celebrate their second home ground win in 5 years!

All in all, IPL V was mixed bag of both good and bad.

The honorary money offered to all the ex-cricketers of India and their widows from the earnings of IPL is a commendable act of gratitude and indeed a wonderful gesture to respect their contribution to the building of cricketing success in India.

It is such things that light up the IPL fans and make them hope that the tournament climbs the heights of success in both the national and international sphere.

And all said and done, IPL will continue to entertain the Indian cricket fans for many more years to come.                                                                                                     
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