My IPL XI

Twice in a row that we have seen the IPL title being crowned upon the under-dogs. But this time, in 2009, the team is considered so only because of their performance last year. With Gilchrist, Gibbs, Symonds, Afridi, Rohit Sharma each of whom are renowned for their skills in this format, in their ranks, they ended up as the only side that could not win a match in their home-ground last year. One weak-link then was the lethargic Laxman with the bat and his captaincy. This time Gilly has led from the front, his performances lifted the spirit of the team and so has it come in handy to be able to demand performances from his side. Rohit Sharma was exceptional when it came to handling pressure situations. T Suman was a revelation. He bowled decent off-spinners and is a strong player of spin.

KKR, on the other side, missed the great captain in Ganguly who can be inspirational despite being the least performing player. Mc Cullum could not hide his emotions on his non-performing days which had had a severe impact on the confidence of the team that has the weakest domestic players. Ganguly tried to over-perform, that i say when i saw him dive on the boundary which is so not like Ganguly. Agarkar finding his place in the XI for most of the tournament is a marvel of a captaincy decision!! He did not give a chance to Langeveldt on his home pitches until the last match!!!

Mumbai Indians is a very strong team on paper, just that none has performed when its most needed. they crumbled under pressure so many times now that they could have easily been in the semifinals both times in the tournament had they held their nerve. Their biggest disappointment being Sanath Jayasuriya, I feel Duminy has his part in the team's journey to the bottom half. He made runs alright, but the rate at which he got them was a concern and on some days it proved seriously costly.Malinga seemed all geared up at the start of the tournament to only lose his sting in the latter part of the tournament. At times Sachin Tendulkar seemed to be very defensive considering the days when he has sent rookie domestic players to the crease in the first six overs when every other team look to make the most of the power-plays.

Rajasthan royals, I should say, they have done well to be where they are considering the non-availability of two of their biggest stars last year: Shane Watson and Tanvir. They have it in them to give nerveless performances in crunch games, the game against KKR that went in to the super over and then the game against the Mumbai Indians. Had Graeme Smith performed to half his potential they would have ended up at least a place higher on the table.

Kings XI punjab is as confused a side as its fortune. Domestic players not performing has become too big a pressure on the shoulders of Sangakkara and Yuvraj who himself was not in his elements. They missed Shaun Marsh dearly as it turned out their batting is the ruining factor most of the times. Jayawardene was injured when he was just about regaining his touch. Sreesanth's performance in his captain's words(Courtesy:FIP) :"Attitude toh poora masala dosa ka deta hai, aur bowling Appam jaisa karta hai". Hardly any positives from their performance.

Chennai on its day has the fire-power to chase down a target of over 200 with ease. But we have seen the same side posting 120s and being unable to chase down targets of less than 150. Hayden has fired through out the tournament and others performance was sporadic. Albie Morkel and Jacob Oram have never been their usual-selves when it came to batting. I feel Jacob Oram is a good T20 bowler and he was never quite used to his full potential. Suresh Raina was good with the ball using his delayed action wisely.

Bangalore's run this tournament is no short of a fairy tale. They started on a high note, then gave it away with the 1.55 million dollar purchase being the chief culprit. Only later when he gave way to the champion bowler Anil Kumble to lead the side that their fortunes changed. Using the word fortune is undermining their performance because kumble set them an ideal example and showed them what they can do. Kallis, Taylor who were largely ineffective until then proved their worth. The way kumble raised his hand to bring their side on track by bringing himself on to bowl against biggies is exceptional. Even in the final he opened the bowling only to get Gilly out and brought himself back to remove Symonds. It's unfortunate that his performance in the final was so brutally let down by their batsmen in the final.

Delhi has been surprisingly successful even without their top-guns Sehwag and Gambhir firing. It is wonderful the way everyone else in the team gave in and performed. AB DeVilliers , Dilshan were rock-solid in the middle order and Dinesh Kartik has played some crucial knocks in the death overs. They were never really tested in pressure situations to say whether or not they succumb to pressure. But to not be under pressure is as significant an achievement. Nehra was great throughout the tourny, Sangwan bowled some terrific spells when others are finding it difficult to get one dot ball. It is unfortunate for them to receive the high intensity flak that they received from Gilly's gun.

Finally My IPL XI would be:(4 Foreigners and 7 Indians)

Matthew Hayden.
AC Gilchrist(wk)
SK Raina
AB de Villiers
RG Sharma
MS Dhoni
Yusuf Pathan
Ashish Nehra
Lasith Malinga
Anil Kumble(c)
PP Ojha