As the interminable group stage of this year’s IPL has finally drawn to a close, now seems an appropriate time to reflect on 75 (yes – 75 – far too bloody many) matches that, more than ever, seem to fall in either of two categories – ferociously exciting (about 1/3) or pretty soporific (the rest).
This year saw two new teams added to the mix – Kochi and Pune. Pune were bloody awful, and that’s all that needs to be said; Yuvraj Singh is not a leader of men. Kochi were inconsistent but showed enough to justify their place in the competition and some of their signings (RP Singh, Parthiv Patel) really paid off.
The early running was made by Mumbai, who lost only once in their first six matches. Sachin Tendulkar led the way with the Orange cap and Lasith Malinga took an astonishing 5/13 in their opening match against Delhi, setting him on the way to the Purple Cap (most wickets), a lead he has not relinquished for the entire tournament. He is currently on 27 wickets – his nearest challenger, Amit Mishra of the eliminated Deccan Chargers, has 19. After that good start, however, last year’s beaten finalists fell away, losing three of their last four. Significantly, however, their thrilling last ball win over Chennai on Sunday means they carry momentum into the first play-off, where they face the same opponents.
Chennai were the most consistent side of the group stage, losing twice in the second half of the season and powered by a strong unit of players – the wiley off-breaks of R Ashwin; Michael Hussey (brilliant signing) at the top of the order; Miserly Doug ‘The Rug’ Bollinger and explosive MS Dhoni. Collectively they have shown last year’s Championship victory was no fluke and their place in the top 4 is merited.
Bangalore looked all at sea for the first three weeks of competition, collecting only one win from their first five. Then Chris Gayle turned up and all hell broke loose – Straight off the plane at Eden Gardens, he slammed 102 from 55 balls and followed it up a week later with 107 from 49 balls against Kings XI. He is now the tournament’s leading run scorer despite playing 5 matches less than everyone else – he has been extraordinary and it is tough not to put RCB’s top spot finish down to his introduction alone.
The big let-down of 2011 were Delhi Daredevils, who staked the house on skipper Virender Sehwag clubbing them into the play-offs. Once he injured his shoulder at the halfway stage, they lacked direction and the overseas recruits of David Warner, Morne Morkel and Colin Ingram sparkled rarely. Irfan Pathan, an obscenely pricey $1.9m purchase at the pre-season auction, did little to justify the hefty pricetag and neither did Umesh Yadav. Deccan Chargers’ race for a play-off spot was put to bed after a 4-match losing streak in the third quarter of the tournament; Shane Warne bowed out with Rajasthan Royals, hampered as they were by financial restraints, lacking consistency although they did beat Mumbai. Kings XI, for whom the hitherto-unknown all-rounder Paul Valthathy made plenty of headlines scoring two hundreds, won four of their last five but still came up short. Jacques Kallis and Gautham Gambhir were the lynchpins of an ultimately satisfactory campaign for Kolkata that sees them take on Mumbai in the first play-off round.
IPL 2011 was too long and unwieldy, with too many uncompetitive matches. With restrictions on the amount of overseas stars allowed to play, and two new teams brought in, the level of competent native players is exposed and they are spread too thinly between the teams – On this evidence, they should go back to a 10-team competition. As with previous IPL tournaments, the fielding has also often been shoddy. And it needs to be shorter – much, much shorter!
Prediction: Bangalore to choke in the group stage, Chennai to face Mumbai in a repeat of last year’s final – but this time the ‘Indians’ will come out on top.
Heroes: Chris Gayle, Paul Valthathy, Lasith Malinga, Shaun Marsh, Adam Gilchrist
Villains: Dan Christian, Sreesanth, Ryan Harris, Lasith Malinga (retire from test cricket? You mug)
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