IPL : JUDGEMENT DAY

This is it. It doesn’t get any bigger than this. The whole of the subcontinent has come to the state of a grinding halt. People of Chennai and Jaipur are frozen with anxiety even in this hot summer. Sunday will witness a battle royale pitting two of the best captains in the IPL head to head and the war field is Mumbai. It’s MSD vs Warne now. Two captains who think out of the box and keep their calm even in turbulent times.

Both the teams are of contrasting styles – probably Rajasthan is the more explosive of the two. Both teams have had very different path to the finals – Rajasthan has had a more flamboyant series while Chennai has been blowing hot and cold.

Chennai, the hot favorites during the early days of the tournament, lived up to their name in the first few matches, with Hayden and Hussey dismantling bowlers to all parts of the stadium. But they couldn’t find their feet once the overseas stars departed. Dhoni was not in the best of form. Fleming had to fill up the very large shoes of Hayden while the local lads were struggling to come to terms with their absence.



But soon Chennai found some stars in the form of Raina, Badrinath, Makhaya Ntini and Gony. Chennai, one has to admit is peaking at the right time with consecutive victories. That, they have managed to defeat semi finalists Punjab on 3 occasions is bound to give them the confidence that is vital to face the Royals. And luckily for them, Smith is out of the final eleven for the Royals. That ought to be enough to raise the spirits of the CSK. MSD would be looking for a repeat of the T20 WC verdict.

Warne’s xi, the underdogs before the tournament began, have had an almost unbelivable run after losing the first match. Fittingly, they have been christened Royals. Warne’s brilliance and timely contributions by their overseas players and the consistency of the local lads have helped them to top the table. The only team without a coach, Rajasthan has lived off Warne’s experience and his captaincy.



They have found many stars enroute to the final. The Captain is as good as the team they say. Whoever Warne turns to has responded well and that reflects on their position in the table. Swapnil, Pathan, Trivedi, Jadeja have all been revelations in this series. Watson and Tanvir have taken it upon themselves to provide the early breakthroughs and Munaf has been stingy throughout. The team is bound to miss Smith in this crunch game. With the purple cap holder, and one of the best all rounders in the team, along with Warne who always seems to pull a rabbit out of a hat, the Royals seem to be the best bet for the crown.

The two semi finals have been a dampener and the Finals will have to be the red cherry for this superb series. When the current best captain of India takes on the wizard of spin, sparks are bound to fly. May the best captain win and hopefully it is an Indian.