It is performance that matters and not names or reputations. In essence, that has been the bottom line in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament. The likes of Bangalore Royal Challengers and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, have perhaps learnt the hard way that investing on old warhorses is hardly the way to go about building teams.
The one concession we could make is that this being the inaugural year, nobody quite had a clue for just about everyone was entering an uncharted territory. It is turning out to be a case of muscle than money that is winning matches.
You might like to criticise the IPL for crass commercialisation or even trivilising cricket, but the fact is that it has thrown up local talent that otherwise might have faded unseen and unnoticed. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Subramaniam Badrinath, Siddharth Trivedi, Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan, to name a few.
The other noticeable aspect of the IPL has been the premium put on fielding. Sadly though, barring a couple of exceptions, the Indian players have not exactly redeemed themselves. You might want to blame it on pressure or whatever, but the number of sitters put down hardly speaks well of the overall fielding standards of Indian players.
It would only mean that next season; the team owners would be as careful and fastidious in picking trainers as the players themselves. As for coaching, Shane Warne has shown that in T20, it boils down to keeping the site motivated and leading from the front. There is precious little time to plot elaborate plans much less execute them.
In the process, several captains have stood exposed, allowing events to overtake them. Iconic players such as Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and, to a lesser extent, Ganguly, have all struggled to cope with decision-making under pressure. If some of them have won matches, then it is more because of individual performances rather than leadership.
"Dhoni put it aptly when he attributed T20 victories
to “one or two individuals coming good
either with the bat or ball”"
Dhoni put it aptly when he attributed T20 victories to “one or two individuals coming good either with the bat or ball” and also performance on the day. Thus, the four semi-finalists at the end of the League would have played better cricket and consistently so. He could not have summed it up better.
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