Let’s face it; this has been the boring of all IPL’s. It proved that not even IPL can top a World Cup Win. But beyond the Cricket overkill and the seemingly unstoppable no of lop sided games (Including the final) the real reason for the IPL flop show is the lack of quality in the teams. So it’s ironic that season 4 is won by the team that processed the best of all round qualities, the Chennai Super Kings. Bangalore relied too much on Chris Gayle, Punjab left too much to do in the end, the newbies threatened for a bit and faded away, Mumbai and Rajasthan were inconsistent and Kolkata rose and fell with Gautham Gambhir’s temperament. Delhi and Deccan… Well… No comments. Perhaps Chennai’s victory is best summed up by Harsha Bhogle’s tweet after the match
“Eventually the best team, the best organized, the best selected and the best led won the IPL and that is how it should be”
An in depth analysis will reveal that CSK is also the team that had fewer distractions from their job of playing cricket. No controversies, No spotlight grabbing owners, No glamour. They won because they played Cricket and one that is of the highest quality. Their batsmen and bowlers did not top the list yet contributed collectively. The fielding was of the highest standard and led by a magnificent captain and a shrewd coach. In fact CSK’s victory was sealed in the transfer market (I prefer the term to the much cheaper sounding, auction) when they bought most of their own players back. I had predicted that it’s going to be CSK all the way and that’s exactly it turned out to be. This is what happens when you have team owners who are involved in Cricket for the past 60 years. It feels proud to be a CSK fan.
Much of IPL’s lack of quality is because of the organizing. Four years running and there is not a single defining rivalry in IPL. The quality would be much better if they let clubs (Again, a better term than franchisees) build their own teams through transfer market rather than stupid auctions. Only then we will be able to see a healthy rivalry and contests like Manchester United-Liverpool or Real Madrid-Barcelona in the IPL. CSK showed that IPL can only be won by quality, not glamour and glitz or star studded players. It’s about time other teams follow suit. Until then IPL will continue to be a grand circus.
Short and Sweet, The best team won IPL Season 4… Period..!
CSK ku Wistle Podu
