... and still all can be winners, we did not see sad faces or crying souls when the 45-day slam-bang hurricane ended with a grand finale in the last ball of the last over. It was a wholesome entertainer. Like Life is Beautiful.
There could not have been a better way for the series to have ended – not only because it was edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting climax, but the tournament right from the word go was entertaining.
It all started with McCullum's century which set the tone for the show. And like a perfectly scripted play, each scene progressed with its own twists and turns.
When the Knight Riders won the first match, we expected that it might emerge as the strongest team, but soon it was on his way out. When we thought it was all over for the Ganguly-led Shah Rukh's team, in came Shoaib with a wicket in his very first over and a man of the match award for leading the team to victory. But soon that was spoiled by other teams like Delhi. And what a team was Delhi, which we thought will display some fireworks, courtesy Veeru-shot gun. But his opening partner for years for several years seemed to have had a different plan as he hijacked the whole show leading the opponent bowlers to dread gautam ghambir.. err sorry gauti, finding no way to tackle him. If we thought that the world's most loved wicket keeper – sorry not MSD – Gilly would perform better and win all the matches for his team, one was totally disappointed to the see the costliest team to get buried under the bottom of the heap.
And lying just a little above them was the bangalore Test XI sorry the old monks... err sorry again the Bangalore Royal Challengers which was not selected by Vijay Mallaya, the owner. Blames apart, I just don't understand that if katrina kaif could not inspire them to win even half of their matches, what would ever make them come alive?
Talking about her, I just remember about the email that is doing the rounds about consolation. It's about how the consolation the Mohali team got in the form of a hug after losing the semi-finals. If there was one team that was hogged the limelight always, it was the dashing-Yuvi's young team, which had a lot of glamour. Pretty Zinta was the force behind the team wooing it in every match, but I have only one doubt. Where was this red and white bravery award winner when a couple of her team cheer girls were shown the door because of their skin colour?
Then, Sreesanth finally had a taste of what he has been asking for for a quite a long time. In the international cricket, he tried to provoke many a ill-tempered player, but finally got a slap from Bhajji when he least expected it. And we all are firmly behind turbonator for his bravery. Usually he only abuses a player's mother, but he showed his mettle by making proper use of his hand for once in the tournament. So what if the stand-in skipper of the Mumbai Indians – this is one team name, that has not made sense to me, so may be next season some team can have the name Vadodara Gujrathi or Patna Biharis – did not show his prowess with the ball or bat (andhadhun! His trademark batting style) to lead his team. And their captain was what we call as visiting professor. Why did he ever accept to take part in the championship? He is injured, then he is injured then he is injured, then he is not fit than his is not fully fit and then he plays a couple of games after which he is again injured and not available. What a sportsman! Though wonderful players like Pollock and Jayasurya were in that team, there was no sadness when they did not make it to the final four.
In place of them came the Chennai team. And what a run it was for the captain. As my friend said, MSD seemed to have a lot of luck, and it was a suspense filled tour for them as they initially shone only to then slowly lose some games in a trot. Then came the crucial matches. And then the deciders. Finally they some how made to the semis in spite of losing a match to Bangalore. Their six-week story haunted them in the finals against the Warne-inspired Royals who had had a dream till then. Like a thriller, the match had new twists with every six or a wicket. But then the better team, which was before the tour drubbed as the no-hoper, clinched it at the moment.
And the hero? Not costliest player MSD or the most striking Yuvi or the lanky Ishant Sharma (remember him?) or the hyped Symonds or Sachin but Shane Warne, a great legend never to have captained Australia. And along with him his boys Yusuf and Watson and others. In the semifinals, when Yusuf hit a boundary off McGrath's in one of the last overs, the bowler's reaction was – a smile. A smile that acknowledges that the batsman is enjoying and having a field day and that it is his day.
But the IPL still showed that it is only cricketers who define th game and bring home the entertainment – bring howmany ever cheerleaders you want or actors you can. Before every match, we had entertainment shows at the stadium, but did the tv channel telecast it or did people rush two hours before the match tpo the stadiums for the entertainment. I seriously doubt it, even if I am not sure that it was not so.
While the hype was about young international players, it was the old written-off players and yet-to-shave and yet-to-be-written-about cricketers who performed. Everyone thought Yuvi would again hit six sixers in an over, but not he, not anyone else could do so. We thought Ishanth or Akthar or McGrath take a hat-trick, but balaji achieved the feat. And who would have expected to see maiden over in the supposed-to-be batsman's game? While the Richest Indian's team could be counted in the top four, and the team of Mallaya, India's answer to Rchard Branson, escaped from having the worst score board, the richest team had the worst tournament. And we were also proved wrong if one thought that SRK is always the king everywhere he goes, or that the Kolkata team would win only because he is the owner.
The tour just showed only a few things. Foremost among them is that no team can win by star power, but only by performance. That people switch on tv not for the pre-match shows but only for cricket. That money and glamour can't win matches. And finally that it is a cricketers' game whatever form you give and whatever you. And in such a game, there cannot be losers – even if you lose the match -- but only winners.
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