IPL 2020-Cricketing Extravaganza Amidst Crisis (Part-VI)

 

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Hello Friends,

How are you all? Two more months to end this year which has not been a pleasant one so far. Hope the last two months be the best ones & bring lot more positivity to the world. We have reached the business end of yet another exciting season of IPL. What a season this has been so far. We are left with just two more matches in the league phase & haven't got the top four teams yet. Most interesting fact is we have to wait till the last match to get the top four. Most competitive season of IPL so far. The week gone by was full of exciting matches. Let's have a quick look on the major highlights of last week.

• Sunrisers Hyderabad(SRH) showing a fearless approach to boost their playoff chances.

• Chennai Super Kings(CSK) finishing the tournament with three consecutive wins. Dhoni's own admission regarding his IPL future was a big relief for his fans.

• End of the journey in this season for Kings XI Punjab(KXIP) & Rajasthan Royals(RR). A better first half of the tournament could have given them a strong chance to qualify.

• Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) & Delhi Capitals(DC) making their own qualification difficult with three & four consecutive losses respectively.

• Mumbai Indians(MI) emerging as the strongest of the lot to qualify for the playoffs.
  

Let's now move on to noteworthy performances of the week.

Stay calm & keep moving

Image Credit: Sirshak9927

Yes, that was the mantra for Mumbai's Suryakumar yadav when he played one of his best innings of the season so far against Virat Kohli led RCB. The match was an important one for both the sides.Chasing a target of 165, Mumbai was steady with decent partnerships in the middle overs. The stylish right hander from Mumbai was holding one end firmly & looking determined to take his team to victory.There was the disappointment of his non inclusion in the national side for the upcoming Australia tour. But he decided to keep everything else aside & focus on the job in hand. His extreme calmness throughout the innings was a treat to watch. Even an effort from opponent captain to make him committing a mistake went in vain. That's how it should be. Isn't it?? To stay calm & composed in difficult situations and focus on the present.He finished the game with ease to seal a place for his team in the playoffs.In fact it was the entire Mumbai team who appeared to be extremely calm throughout the tournament especially in crunch moments. Probably that is one of the main reason they emerging as the best team of the season so far.

New finisher in the town

Image Credit:Amrapahal Pahanswan

Over the years IPL has given us so many exciting finishers. This year probably has established one more such great talent as T20 finisher. There was not much to cheer for the Chennai Super Kings franchisee this season. But one of the bright spots has been the emergence of Ravindra Jadeja as the finisher. Won't be surprised to see him more in this role for CSK in the upcoming seasons. As mentioned in the first part of this series(Click here for Part-I review) this season might see Dhoni building the team for the future. Trying to fit Jadeja in finisher's role is one step towards the future. We have seen him batting ahead of Dhoni in some of the matches. He showed what he is capable of in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR). His attacking batting in the last two overs not only clinched a thrilling win for his team but also dented KKR's chances for qualifying for the playoffs. He was always there but with the presence of stalwarts like Dhoni & Bravo as more established finishers ,never got the opportunity to prove his mettle. But this season was different. With one eye on the future the captain & team management backed him to perform in that role and he has done his bit this season. Like a true leader Dhoni is now focusing on building a team which can serve the franchisee for the years to come. Credit to the management as well who kept faith on the man who has led their team successfully for such a long period & now on a mission to build a team for the future. Captain cool's reply as 'Definitely not' to the question of whether he is retiring from IPL after this season has come as the biggest gift for his fans towards the end of the tournament. It would be interesting to see how this great leader would be shaping the future of the men in yellow in the coming days.

Leading from the front

As a leader we all want to lead from the front in our respective professions. Isn't it? it's a pleasure to see a team getting inspired by their leader & turning that inspiration into brilliant performances. Throughout the tournament all the captains have tried their best to inspire their respective teams with meaningful contributions. Last week saw two of the greatest captains delivering a knock out punch to get their respective teams to victory. First occasion was the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad(SRH) & Delhi Capitals(DC). Needing to win their last three group league matches in order to stand a chance of qualification for playoffs,Hyderabad based franchisee had no option but to adapt a fearless approach. Their captain David Warner decided to show the way. Having a new opening partner in the form of Wriddhiman Saha ,the Australian great went hard on the opponent bowlers from the beginning. His quickfire 66 set the tone for a huge score. At the other end his new opening partner also played a match winning knock of 87. After posting a challenging total on the board it was the captain's job to ensure that the bowlers also perform to seal a win. He did that to perfection.Their can't be any better inspiration for the team to see their captain giving it all in the field. His ability to motivate his team even in the toughest of the situations is what makes him a great leader. Equally excellent performance came from another captain who was handed the captaincy in the mid season to change his team's fortune.He gave his best when the team needed him the most. Eoin Morgan needs no introduction as a leader. He has been a terrific leader for England over the years.The world cup winning captain was handed the captaincy of KKR at a time when they were going through a tough phase. Inconsistent performances led them to a situation where they had to compete with Rajasthan Royals(RR) in a knock out game to keep their hopes alive for a playoff spot. There could not have been a better opportunity for Morgan to lead from the front. After a good start his team again stumbled loosing 5 wickets under 100 runs. It was the time for batsman Morgan to take charge. He assessed the conditions perfectly & played a match winning knock of unbeaten 68. Later on by managing his bowling options smartly he ensured that his team doesn't repeat their past mistakes. True leaders always stand up when the going gets tough. Morgan did exactly the same at the most crucial time.

That's all for this week. Will be back next week when we would have got the champions of this season. I am sure we are bracing for one of the most exciting playoffs this year.

 

Click here for Part-V of this series. 

Image Credit : NAPARAZZI, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

NAPARAZZI, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons