IPL - Season 2

Well the much awaited and the controversial season of IPL finally took off in South Africa because Indian government made it clear that they won't be able to give much security in wake of the recent elections. The tournament was largely a success. The crowds were lesser as compared to last season but still overall it was a success.

Deccan Chargers won the title this time by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final. Deccan had a great batting line-up which failed to click every time in the last season but because of better consistency displayed this time around they came out as champs. Much of the credit should go to Adam Gilchrist who captained the side with enthusiasm.

Royal Challengers Bangalore side was a revelation. Last year they were tagged as a "Test team" but this year after initial hiccups they won 5 or 6 matches in a row to get themselves into the final. Here again credit should be given to Anil Kumble whose inspired captaincy rubbed onto others also.

Delhi Daredevils had a envious batting line-up which included Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, AB D Villiers, T. Dilshan....and many more. But they had a off day at the knockout stage and they went out of the tournament from the semis just as they did the last time.

Chennai Super Kings was another semifinalist which didn't qualified for the final. MS Dhoni captaincy was one of the positive points for this team. Another major positive was of players like Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina who can turn match entirely on their own. But like Delhi one off day in the semis and their campaign ended.

Kings XI Punjab had some bad luck with rain in the initial part of the season but they bounced back well by winning every do-or-die match they played. But their last do-or-die match against Chennai they were not able to pull it off. A powerful team on paper but couldn't materialize that into performance on the field. Yuvraj took 2 hat tricks in this IPL but still i wouldn't rate him too high as a captain.

Rajasthan Royals. Last time champions. This time finished at 6th. I am a Rajasthan Royals fan for one simple reason...Shane Warne. He is such a wonderful cricketer that i just can't stop liking him. It was his wonderful charismatic inspirational leadership that won Rajasthan the title. But this year they were without their main players like Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson. The other two key players Yusuf Pathan and Graeme Smith failed at crucial times. Inconsistent batting was the main reason for their downfall. But still i am not dissapointed with their performance because they just missed the semifinal berth. One match here and there and it all could have changed. Lets hope next year Shane Warne again does a miracle.

Mumbai Indians. Whats wrong with this team? Its opening combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya can be considered as one of the most dangerous pairs in the history of cricket. It has got some other good players like JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo. But where this team lacked was its bowling. Last year they had Shaun Pollock. This year his absence was felt. Batting failures in crucial matches also led to their downfall. Another case of a team which was strong on paper but couldn't materialise it on the field.

Kolkata Knight Riders. A team mired in controversy right from the word go. From multiple captain theory to Fake IPL Player blog. Everything went wrong for this team. In the end they salvaged some pride by winning the last 2 games but it was far too late till then. John Buchanan now should be thrown out of KKR as soon as possible otherwise he will make the situation a lot more worse than it already is. Removal of Sourav Ganguly from captaincy was such a wrong move that it backfired into a last position in the table for KKR. I have read in news that Ricky Ponting would be given the responsibility to rebuilt KKR, at least he would do a better job than McCullum for sure. This year all of their bowlers bowled poorly all the batsmen batter poorly. Everything went wrong for them. What to look forward to now? I am looking forward to see some more of Dada's supreme batting ability which he is known for.