If the first edition of the Indian Premier League started with a barrage of sixes off the bat of Brendon McCullum, the second edition was a much more sedate affair. The first six of the tournament didn’t come till late in the Mumbai Indians innings in the first match. Batting was a little bit more trickly in the South African conditions and as the Rajasthan Royals found out – even a score of 133 was extremely difficult to chase under the lights. The first day was disappointing for both of last year’s finalists- Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals. If the Superkings got all their tactics wrong, the Royals went better by putting up a dismal batting performance. Clearly, the Mumbai Indians and the Bangalore Royal Challengers had upped their games and upset the odds. But the most interesting part of the first day were the performances of three Indian veterans – two of whom were deemed by selectors and most fans to be too old for both the 50 over and 20 over formats of the game.

On a day when all expensive signings such as Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and Tyrone Henderson didn’t set the matches on fire – it was the old warhorses who shone the brightest. While Sachin Tendulkar’s performance came as no surprise considering he has been in very good touch of late – with fantastic hundreds in New Zealand, it was the performances of the Bangalore duo that would have made a lot of their fans happy. 

Proving Vijay Mallya wrong

I have only seen Rahul Dravid react the way he did after his fifty once before – after reaching his century against the Australians in that famous Calcutta test. The way he pointed his bat to the stand was clear – he was sending a message out to the owners and critics who were doing their best to undermine him even before the tournament had started. All of last season, Dravid had to endure severe criticism for putting together a team that couldn’t do much right. The team’s poor performance completely hid the fact that Dravid had a pretty impressive tournament personally – ending up as Bangalore’s highest run getter and at a good strike rate. Coming into bat at a very precarious 17 for 3 – he played a wonderful innings with shots to all parts of the parks. There were on drives, delicate nudges, powerful sweeps and even a powerful six over midwicket.

The value of Dravid’s innings can truly be measured by the fact that only Kevin Pietersen managed to cross 11 in both sides. Dravid’s 66 ensured that the Royal Challengers got to 133 – giving them atleast a fighting chance against the defending champions.  It’s going to be a big loss for the Royal Challengers when in two weeks they are not only going to lose Kevin Pietersen (who goes away to play the West Indies) but also Rahul Dravid who is scheduled to fly back to be with his pregnant wife. Then came Kumble – who bowed out half way through the series against Australia. Three overs and four really poor shots in he had astounding figures of 5 wickets 5 runs. A lot of sports websites (including this one!) completely discounted the impact of Anil Kumble on the IPL and judging by his performance yesterday – Kumble could make a difference provided his fitness levels stay up. The Royal Challengers have spent a lot of money in trying to remake their squad – Kevin Pietersen, and Jessie Ryder have come in along with Roban Uthappa. Interestingly, it looks like it will be the two gentlemen in their mid 30s who could have the biggest say in their fortunes this year. 

Posted by Z on Sunday, April 19th, 2009 at 7:18 am.