India
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.
good read :)
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