Tuesday 31 May 2016

lPL 9 - Oh no RCB, not again

Another IPL season comes to an end with an unexpected twist, SRH, becoming the champions for the first time. This time we had two new teams GL and RPS, instead of the most-loved and most hated team in the IPL CSK and RR.



SRH, the only foreign captain standing at the end of the season, at the start we had two, but Miller was replaced, Warner lifts the cup. Warmer single-handedly took his team to the victory line in most of the games, supported by his bowling unit. Bhuvi was back to form and Nehra kept delivering till he was injured, especially his last over to Dhoni. And, Mustafisur is the find of this season who proved he was a difficult bowler. His yorker to Russel was one of the best delivery of this season. Dhawan's struggled in the beginning, but gained his confidence in the shadow of Warner. And, Yuvi played a few scintillating innings. It was Ben Cutting who had a good day on the finals to get them the cup. Nobody gave them a chance, but they proved they are worth it and happy for Yuvi. CHAMPIONS.

RCB, a team with too many star players like an Avengers team. But, they had a worst bowling line up. Virat was in form of his life scoring almost a 1000 runs supported by ABD. Rahul, surprisingly adapted to T20. And, Gayle was more miss than hit. The team was struggling at the bottom, but it was their inspiring batting led by Kholi placed them at the top. But, they should have won the finals easily. After scoring more than 100 runs without any loss of wickets they choked. Third time in the finals and all while chasing, not good. It was ABD and Watson's fault this time. RCB deserved to win, feeling sad for Virat again after WT20. DESERVED TO BE CHAMPIONS.

GL, a new team with half of the CSK players led by Raina really surprised everyone and finished on top in the league. It had quite a few big hitters Mac, Smith, Finch and Raina. Also, Bravo's death bowling won them a few games especially against DD where Morris went bonkers scoring fastest fifty of this season. His slow yorker to bowl Miller in their first match was one of the best deliveries, next to Fizz's yorker. It was like straight out of EA Sports. A fantastic debut season for a new team and Raina's not as good as he was while wearing yellow jersey. EXCELLENT DEBUT.

KKR, once again they qualified for the playoffs after missing out last year. With a settled side they won few matches comfortably, but Uthappa wasn't as good as he was in last two years and Narine as well. Surprisingly Yusuf played well most in most of the matches. And, Russell was their match winner and they really struggled to win once they lost him to injuries. Still hate this team for Gauti's attitude, but he proves he still has it to make to Indian side. USUAL BUSINESS.

DD, with a bunch of fresh talents and a new captain DD started of poorly by getting bowled for 98 against KKR. Zak told it was one bad day and they proved it after winning few games continuously which they haven't done in the past few years. But, they blow their chances by chopping and changing their winning combination in every match. DeKock, Morris, Zak and Nair were good, Shreyas Iyer disappointed after a fantastic IPL8, so is Negi who was the costliest player of this season who didn't even make it to the playing eleven in most of the games. Better luck next time and . WASTED OPPORTUNITY.

MI, so last year champions didn't even qualify for the playoffs much like KKR last year. They were on and off for most of the season. Rohit was fantastic during chases. Hardik Pandya was biggest flop in their team, but his brother Krunal Padiya is a find of the season for them. Their batting failed miserably in few games which cost them a place in the playoffs. Pollard scored a fastest fifty in his 100th match, but not much of a contribution in other matches. I still have a soft corner for this team cos of SACHIN. UNLUCKY.

RPSG, right from the team's name to jersey color everything looked funny, but they started strongly with a win against the defending champions MI. Everyone thought this new Pune team's fate will be different from the older one. Dhoni, who likes to play all the matches with the same eleven was forced to change his side every match due to the injuries. It was funny to see every foreign players get injured one after the other. Overall a disaster season, but their last match was interesting. Fighting to save some pride to avoid the last spot, Dhoni scored 23 from the last over to win the game. It was like a bad movie finishing with an interesting twist and promising a sequel. Will the sequel be good, let's wait and see. DISASTER DEBUT.

KX1P, another disaster season, they relied heavily on the M&M and both of them were out of form. After handing over the captaincy to Vijay, the team did play some better cricket, but it was too late. Their campaign never took off just like RPS and finished last. I hope they pick some good players in the auction next year. BAD TEAM.

Impressed players are Fizz, K L Rahul, Chahal, Morris, Krunal Pandya, M Ashwin, Zampa, Stoinis. Disappointing players are Naman Ojha, Uthappa, Negi, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ashwin, Dhoni, M&M.

Since there will be a fresh auction next year, I hope the teams like KX1 and RPS pick some best players. Just one more year and CSK will be back, the whistles will be back, but will Dhoni be back as well?

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