IPL 11 has been a grand season in so many ways, that experts already started terming it as the best ever IPL season played, even before the playoffs started. As a cricket fan, I never really bought into those comments, as I felt, I have witnessed better IPL seasons than this one, in the past- until & unless I saw what transpired in the playoffs. I have written in my previous blogs on IPL, that 3 teams actually played the best cricket and got into the playoffs and as far as RR was concerned, they just got a bit lucky to find themselves in the playoffs. But, when the playoffs began, in the final week of IPL, the standard of cricket played actually portrayed that the 4 deserving top teams of the league are actually fighting it out in the middle, for the coveted title. So, without further delay, let us get to the individual playoff matches & analyse, the performance of the teams.
Qualifier 1
This match reminded me of a match, played 15 years ago, at St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth. I do not know, how many of you have memories of that match, it was the World Cup Semi Final 2003, where Australia emerged victorious against Sri Lanka, in a rain curtailed encounter, by 48 runs. The reason why I brought that match up here, is because, in that match, Australia were skittled out for a meagre 212 runs, at the end of the first innings. Sri Lanka needed to chase at just above 4 per over, for a place in the finals, but going into the innings break, the Lankans were the more tensed side. This was the aura that the Aussies exuded in the early 2000, that winning a knock out game against them even chasing at 4 per over, seemed tough for the opposition. CSK in IPL is almost elevating itself to the status of the Aussies of the early 2000 in IPL.
SRH, had posted a decent score of 139/7 in the first innings, on a sticky Mumbai wicket, courtesy a Brathwaite special finish. CSK, were absolutely reeling under pressure in the chase, when Rashid Khan finished his spell in the 16th over of the innings, with CSK needing 47 to win from 4 overs, with 3 wickets in hand. The only recognised batsman, in the crease was Faf Du Plessis, who was not a regular in the CSK team, in the league stages. An over from the increasingly impressive Sid Kaul, brought the equation down to 43 from 18 balls, for CSK with 3 wickets in hand. Any day, you will back the bowling side to win from here. But, because this was CSK, it was the opposition, who came under pressure, and the ever so calm Kane Williamson, made a blunder. He handed over the 18th over to Carlos Brathwaite. The under confident all rounder, who had bowled, a couple of overs, coming into this match, was taken for a pounding by Du Plessis. The momentum shifted immediately and runs came in a flow, for CSK to finish the match, with 5 balls to spare. I can vouch for it, that had it not been CSK in the opposition in that match, there was no way, an experienced leader like Williamson, would have handed the ball over to Brathwaite for the 18th over. It was because of the pressure of CSK, that he wanted to bowl out his weak bowler early and that cost him the match big time.
Eliminator 1
When Ajinkya Rahane, won the toss & asked KKR to bat first, on a damp Eden Gardens wicket, he, in his wildest dreams would not have guessed, that Krishnappa Gowtham's finger spin & Archer's pace would account for 4 wickets in the first 7 overs. KKR, slumped bigtime, courtesy some good bowling & very ordinary shot selection by the KKR top order. But then in came a player, who, according to me, has impressed the most in IPL 11. I have got very high regard for Indian batsmen, who can play the horizontal bat shots, with relative ease & Shubhman Gill is perhaps one player, who has shown his comfort zone with these shots again & again. People say, the find of the IPL season had been Prithvi Shaw, but I believe, Shubhman Gill would have superseded Shaw, had he been given more opportunities to bat at the top of the order by KKR. Shubhman Gill, partnered with his skipper, to form a priceless partnership of 55, to dig KKR out of trouble and then it was Russell show at Kolkata to set RR a target of 170. RR, with their thin batting line up, in the absence of Stokes & Butler, never looked set to chase the target and their remaining hopes were dashed by another season ending captaincy blooper by Rahane, when he sent out Klassen & Binny to bat, ahead of Krishnappa Gowtham. By the time the Karnataka allrounder came out to the crease, it was already too late, to recover the match and Prasidh Krishna, with his increasingly impressive death bowling skills, ensured that KKR go past RR, to book their places in Qualifier 2.
Looking back at RR's campaign, this season, there have been way too many important matches, where bad leadership decisions cost them big time. RR will be looking forward to the return of their original captain, Steve Smith, next season, who hopefully can take the same team, to a higher position in the league, with better utilization of the available resources.
Qualifier 2
The match, which will go down in IPL history as the 'Rashid Khan' match. KKR, as they had been so used to doing throughout the season, started following their familiar script, which had given them wins throughout the season. Win the toss, put the opposition in to bat, choke the opposition with the spin troika of Narine, Kuldeep & Chawla, and chase a sub par total, under the watchful batting of the skipper Dinesh Karthik. They were all set to execute the script, as SRH stood at 124/5 at the end of 17 overs, with at most a 150 in sight. Then occurred a poetic reunion, as DK saw a cameo similar to what he played in the Nidahas Trophy final, in Sri Lanka, a few months ago, but this time from behind the wicket. DK watched on, as his 2 young rookie pacers got haplessly carted around the park, by the Afghanistan Teenager, thus changing the complexion of the match. Though KKR conceded 36 in the last 2 overs, chasing 175 on a good Eden Gardens wicket, was something KKR would have gobbled up everyday, specially considering the current form they were in. Infact, halfway into the innings, KKR, looked to be coasting, with 83 needed to win from the last 10 overs, with 8 wickets in hand. Its often said in cricket, as well as in life, that you understand the importance of an understated performer, when he does not turn up. The same was the case with Dinesh Karthik, this season for KKR. While, all of us were absolutely losing our mind, regarding the return of MSD-the finisher, Karthik had been shepherding every chase for KKR, with unprecedented maturity. Amidst the Neymars, the Ronaldos, the Messis of the league, DK has been that quiet understated Thiago Silva, who calmly executed his duties from behind the scenes- You don't notice him, until he doesnt turn up one match and you suddenly see, your team is 1-7 down in a World Cup Semifinal.
The moment, Rashid Khan with his slider, disturbed the wood work for Karthik, there seemed to be mayhem inside the KKR camp. The big hitting Dre Russ & Lynn, both succumbed to the surmounting pressure, as Rashid made merry to seal the game for SRH. Gill & Mavi tried their best, but to be honest it never seemed like they can take KKR past the line. KKR, on looking back on their campaign will feel, they have done well & punched above their weight, to get to the third position, especially in the absence of a foreign overseas pacer. DK has grown in leadership status, through the season, and looking forward next season, they would hope to receive the services of Starc, to complete the jigsaw.
The Final
There is a reason, why I did not talk about Rashid Khan's bowling in the 2nd qualifier. While, people were terming him to be the unplayable magic bowler, who will destroy CSK in the finals, after he dismantled KKR, I refused to raise the bar so high for him. As a keen cricket fan, you need to go back & see, what triggered the success for Rashid against KKR. The cause of his success was the fact, that the balls were not spinning on the Eden gardens surface that night. When the ball spins, it creates certain angles, that good players of spin, like Dinesh Karthik, can manoeuvre around. But on that night, both the spinners, Shakib & Rashid's balls were not spinning and rather going on with the arm. Had the ball spun that night, Robin's reverse sweep would have connected, so would have the cut shots played by both Karthik & Russell. But come, the finals, on a dry red-soil Mumbai wicket,at the peak of the Indian summer, the ball was sure to spin. And the moment, the ball started spinning, Rashid got reduced to be a good bowler from an unplayable bowler. With Rashid Khan lent ineffective, it had to be CSK all the way through and so it happened. Chasing a sub-par 180 total, in Wankhede, would have always been a cake walk for the chase masters of IPL 2018, and so did it prove to be as the veteran Australian statesman, stormed his way to a blistering century off 50 balls, to take CSK over the line.
Then came a sight so familiar and yet so pleasing- the sight of MSD with another tournament trophy in hand. I personally feel, the win for CSK in IPL 2018, after a hiatus for 2 years, can be termed as one of the best fairytale stories, ever scripted on a cricket field. A bruised wounded captain, coming off a not so memorable season from RPS, last year, where he was stripped off his captaincy duties, assembles his old squad & retains his old core team members, to ultimately go on and win the championship, big time in the finals- Oh GOD! This seems so much like a script straight out of the house of Rohit Shetty. Well, so has been the life of this man from Jharkhand- he has written his own scripts right from the time, Joginder Sharma was handed the last over in the WT20 final 11 years ago. "THALA- The Magic Johnson of Indian Cricket",
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