"Will the IPL-7 happen?", "What will be the fate of 2 very good teams-CSK and RR? " etc, these were the few of the many questions that every Cricket fan, rather IPL Fan had in their mind during the months of March- April. Of course, the timing of the IPL this time clashing with the most anticipated General Elections raised 1 another question as to :"Will IPL-7 be held in India, or UAE/ Bangladesh/South Africa"? Later on, it was decided that this season will played in 2 legs-1 in the UAE and the other in our own Country.
The honorable Supreme Court made a huge decision, appointed Legendary Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar as the interim President of IPL, gave the green signal to IPL-7 , without scrapping any teams on charges of Spot Fixing. Let us cast our mind back to the Auction Day. After all the Franchises got their players, everyone was on the lookout to see which teams have the big international names like Anderson, Maxwell, Finch, McCullum, Duminy etc. But, little did we all know then that it would be some of the finest young talents from India who would do exceedingly well on this big stage.
Talking about Indians who have had fabulous season this year, I would start off with the one bowler who has been the most Impressive. Yes, I am talking about Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. When he first burst onto the scene, everyone regarded him as a 1 dimensional bowler who was very good with new ball, and not quite so with the old ball. But performances in this IPL have proved us all wrong. He was exceptional, bowling at the death, bowled great yorkers, picked up wickets and was in the race for the purple cap, always!He was the go-to man for his Captains (Dhawan and Sammy), mind you this is no mean when you have someone like Dale Steyn in your side. Just like Bhuvi, there was another impressive talent in Mohit Sharma who was the leader of the pack for CSK's bowling line up. 2 years on the trot, he has delivered the goods. He has a very good slower ball, which got him many wickets while bowling at the back end of the Innings. Though he was little expensive, any Captain would take that because he was always among the wickets, and he eventually ended up being the "Purple Cap" holder.
When you talk about young talents, you cannot go far from RR. They are known for grooming youngsters and 2 such were on display this season. One, of course caught the attention of one and all with his brilliant batting last season, Sanju Samson. He just carried on this season from where he had left off last time. You see a few of his shots and you'll surely tell to yourself: “This guy is a serious talent"!The other one - Karun Nair, who came into this IPL with huge reputation on the back of some wonderful performances in Domestic Cricket. And I tell you what, he did his reputation no harm this season. He opened the batting for his team, and did a brilliant job, for me he was the find of the season as far as the batting talent is concerned.
Moving on from young to the old, probably the oldest ! You guessed it right, Pravin Tambe! The man who showed us all "Age is just a number"! He stunned everyone with his performances last season and this year was no different! Bowled beautifully, picked up a hat trick and gave it all for his team.If the commentators and the people have voted a player for "Emerging Player of the Tournament" ahead of likes of Maxwell, Miller, Faulkner etc , he has to be a special talent! If his performance this season is anything to go by, this man surely is one, Akshar Patel. 3-dimensional cricketer, much like Jadeja, was very impressive throughout. His bowling economy rate was exceptional in a few innings when his colleagues were carted all over the ground. A useful batsmen, livewire on the field and a very impressive bowler- Surely one for the future!
Manan Vohra was very impressive, a few of his strokes against genuine quicks like Steyn and Morkel were absolutely breathtaking. He made batting look ridiculously easy sometimes, and did a great job in the Final as well under pressure, but unfortunately was not good enough to take his team over the line.
This IPL will be remembered for leg spinners that were on display and were impressive. Top of that list, for me is Yuzvendra Chahal. This youngster was Kohli's trump card all through the season, and he did not disappoint his captain many times. Pity that he did not have adequate support from his partners. He was fearless, tossed up the ball generously, good with his variations and what was striking was this guy had good head on his shoulders.
Sandeep Sharma did that this season. A first look at him and you get the feeling he is a little quicker version of a certain Praveen Kumar! Has the ability to swing the ball both ways and with decent speed. He was expensive at times, but with experience, he'll be a useful bowler in the future.
Moving on to the player who made this IPL his own, Robin Uthappa! Adjectives will not enough to describe what he has done! One of the main reasons why KKR went on to win the title. He was asked to open the batting with his skipper and there was no looking back since then. 10 consecutive scores of 40+ in T20 format is no mean achievement for any player. What was impressive was his shot selection, he hit in the 'V', and all orthodox cricketing shots which were so pleasing to the eye. Courtesy this brilliant performance and great domestic season, he has made a comeback to the Indian team after 6 years. All one can hope is for him to continue batting like this always.
Right, another player, 7 Seasons and he has not missed a single game, 400+ runs in each of the 7 seasons, Brilliant fielder, useful bowler, Suresh Raina aka "Mr.IPL"!He has played so many crucial innings for CSK, but his 25 ball 87 would go down as one of the best T20 Innings ever, for the fact that it was played while chasing a huge score in a big match! What was so good about this innings was there was no mindless slogging, just pure class.
This man was in terrific shot all through the season, but just when you felt it was going to be his day, he threw his wicket away. "We all were flattered, soon to be deceived" as Harsha Bhogle often said on air.But, Virender Sehwag, arguably the greatest entertainer the World has ever seen made it a point to 'entertain' the Wankhede Crowd, Scored a brilliant century and he could not have chosen a better day than the day of a knockout (qualifier 2), his innings was just about enough to take his team to the Final.
Just when we were happy, relaxed that Indians have had a very good season, 2 young Indians chose the big day (Final) to show to the World what they are.Saha, a very underrated wicketkeeper batsmen, scored a magnificent century when his team was in a little bit of trouble. Manish Pandey, the first Indian to score an IPL century, almost got his second! Unfortunately got out for a well-made 94, helping his team become the champs for the second time.
Orange Cap: Robin Uthappa
Purple Cap: Mohit Sharma
Emerging Player: Akshar Patel
IPL 7 Winning Captain: Gautam Gambhir
IPL 7 Fairplay Award Winner: CSK (MS Dhoni)
A quick look above shows this IPL belonged to Indians, rather it was dominated. And if one notices carefully, we have covered all the bases there. A Batsmen, A Bowler, An All Rounder, 2 very good Captains (of which 1 is a wicketkeeper)
Apart from all these players who caught everyone's attention with their individual brilliance, there were few others who did not lit up this IPL on fire, but were very effective for their teams whenever it was needed. You can think of players like KL Rahul, K Sharma, R Dhawan, Karanveer Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, I Pandey, Kedhar Jadhav. The best part about almost of these guys is they are still very young and hence stand a chance to prove their caliber in the upcoming seasons.
We all know how talented they are, we want them to get a chance to represent India soon and do wonders, thereby justifying the tagline of IPL:"Where Talent meets Opportunity"!
Abhishek Barthur
Author, Blogger, Cricket Enthusiast
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