Thala Again: The League Of Excellence (Part II)

Image Credit: freepik.com/Rochak Shukla

Hello friends,

After two long months IPL 2023 has finally concluded. And what a climax to this edition of the most sought after T20 league in the world. Infact it took longer than expected to get the result in the finale night due to rain interruption. One of the fiercely fought seasons so far. Though the ultimate glory went to the most loved cricketer of our generation MS Dhoni & his team, not to forget the Gujarat Titans who gave it their all to defend their title. The atmosphere in the ground during the finale night was nothing less than an emotional roller-coaster. The players, fans, support staff all were high on emotion after such a fantastic end to the tournament. CSK are the deserving champions this year even though they didn't  really dominate the first half of the final. Credit to all the teams for making the season so competitive. Let's have a quick look at the top instances during the second half of the league.

Not So Bold

Yet another season & one of the most loved team ended up on the receiving end once again. RCB's dream of lifting that elusive trophy shattered once again. But they have only themselves to blame for this. At the same time their team management has plenty of questions to answer too. Overdependence on top three, lack of substantial contribution from middle order, lack of firepower in bowling  at the crunch moments & last but not the least individual brilliance rather than team performance have been some of the major reasons for their exit. Their story has been quite similar over the years. They have been a team of batting superstars over the years & that trend continues. But this time their biggest concern has been poor performance from their Indian batters barring Kohli. Without strong contribution from Indian batters and bowlers it is difficult to reach the knockout stage of a tournament like IPL.  Bowling also has not been upto the mark most of the times. One can argue that injuries to key players spoiled their game plan to a major extent but that is the case with other teams too. Despite some excellent performances from captain Du Plessis both as a leader & a batter and Kohli they failed to perform as a team most often than not. Not to forget captain's bold move to play as a specialist batter (Impact substitute) when he was injured & handing over the captaincy to Kohli for few matches. It's high time the team management focus on the basics & create a superstar team rather than a team of superstars if they want to stand a chance to win the title in future.

Resurgence Of Mumbai Indians

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Mumbai Indians' season has been a roller-coaster ride this time around. A campaign that started with couple of losses gained momentum midway into the tournament that saw the team entering yet another knockout stage of the cash rich tournament. Not to forget their position last season when they ended up bottom of the table. Rising from that position & getting knocked out almost at the verge of another IPL title despite injuries to their bowling spearheads  Bumrah & Archer tells a lot about this team. It has been their batting firepower that put them in a position to overcome their bowling deficiency with four 200+ chases. Lot of credit to captain Rohit Sharma & coaching staff  for ensuring that injury setbacks don't derail their campaign altogether. They are really looking solid as a batting unit consisting of young guns like Ishan Kishan, Cameron Green, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Tim David who are definitely going to carry forward the great legacy of one of the most successful teams of the league. Not to forget young Aakash Madhwal who grabbed his opportunity with both hands in the absence of senior pros & experienced Piyush Chawla who made this season as his  best  with the ball. The way they have performed as a whole this year & are building a team for the future fair to say that they are not far from reestablishing their dominance.

Shocking Exit For Men In Pink

Rajasthan Royals' exit has been one of the shocking elements this season. Last year finalists were  one of the most balanced teams this year too when the tournament started. Their performance at the initial phase of the league made their fans believe that they can go one step further this time around. But in one of the  weirdest of the events they  were knocked out of the tournament at the league phase. Reason for this is hard to explain as they haven't been a poor team altogether. Not to forget extraordinary performance of Yashasvi Jaiswal who has been their batting mainstay surprisingly ahead of Buttler and Samson. Their management will definitely do a  thorough soul searching to find out the reasons for missing out on a playoff spot despite being termed as one of the favorites this season &  starting the tournament like a champion team too.

Young Guns Keep Blazing

IPL has always been a mega platform for youngsters to showcase their talent in front of a global audience. This year has been no exception. This season will be remembered for some astounding performances by future generation. This season is definitely going to be a gamechanging one in the careers of Shubman Gill & Yashasvi Jaiswal. Rinku Singh's herculean task of  hitting five sixes in the last over as well as his overall performance has already made him a star. The next big thing in Australian cricket  Cameron Green has been one of the big ticket purchases this season. He hasn't disappointed his team too as he ended up hitting his maiden T20 hundred in his first season with the Mumbai Indians. Matheesha Pathirana & Noor Ahmad have been the finds of the season for their respective franchises.  Performances of Aakash Madhwal, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi , Ruturaj Gaikwad have assured us that the future of Indian cricket is in safe hands. They are reaping the rewards of all the hard work  they have put all these years.

Dominance Of The Old & The Bold

This post can't be concluded without talking about the two best teams of the season, the finalists. Two leaders, apparently termed as the master & the apprentice who have led their respective sides in  excellent manner this season. There is not much left to say about Dhoni & CSK story as we all know how that combination has achieved greater success in IPL over the years. But the emergence of Gujarat Titans is definitely a story in itself. Nobody really bet  on them  during their first season last year and yet they emerged as the champions. This year they ensured that they play like the defending champions. They were so close yet so far from their second successive title. Lot of credit to captain Pandya who has turned out to be an inspirational leader just like his idol Dhoni. Creating a supporting environment, backing the players, giving confidence to the players when they are down & most importantly encouraging them to play like a champion team is all what Hardik Pandya has been doing throughout the season as the leader of the pack. On the other hand for CSK it was business as usual. The ever so calming influence of their talismanic leader MSD makes it a bit easier for the players to perform consistently. And that effect reflects in their results too. Hopefully Hardik can emulate the success of his idol with the Titans in future.

That's all from this season. Stay tuned here for more updates from cricketing world.

Click here for the first part of this story.