Hello Friends,
How's the craze with IPL 2024 so far? Great I believe. No doubt that it's entertaining us like any other edition of the richest T20 league in the world. But there is something different this season, isn't it? So many scores over 200, higher powerplay scores than previous years, more individual hundreds, nightmarish bowling spells, record breaking team scores are some of the pointers that indicate that this year IPL is on a mission to exceed its own expectations. All the teams look balanced along with the regular injury or form concerns with some of the players. At the same time it is fair to say that players are more keen to showcase their skills this time around considering T20 world cup is commencing just after the IPL. A standout performance in IPL this year can very well book a berth in the flight to USA & Caribbean for the global event.
Coming to team performances there hasn't been much of a surprise so far barring extremely overwhelming performance by RCB who are almost on the verge of elimination and an equally stunning performance by SRH who are now one of the contenders for the trophy this year. Most talked about topic though has been the appointment of Hardik Pandya as MI skipper and the outrage of fans that followed which to some extent has affected Hardik as well as team's performance. I am sure as the tournament is heading towards the completion of league phase more exciting contests are going to come. This edition of Sports talk of the month features couple of individual brilliances as well as a team performance.
The Miracle Man Is Back
Much awaited return of Rishabh Pant to cricket ground has been a real pleasing experience for the cricket lovers. His journey over the past one & half years has been no short of a miracle. Considering the severe injuries that he had during the accident and the entire rehabilitation process he undergone to make a comeback in a high pressure tournament like IPL is a sheer testament to his determination and discipline. Fans are elated to witness the heroics of Pant once again on the cricket ground.
His comeback story should definitely be highlighted more to emphasize on the importance of a never give up attitude in life. Such a life changing experience at a young age will definitely have its own learnings for Pant too. I am sure this comeback will make him more grateful towards life. His comeback is a good news for his IPL franchise as well as Indian team. It's time now to witness Rishabhpanti at the international stage once again.
Redemption Of Caribbean Knight
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| Sunil Narine Image Credit:Kolkata Knight Riders - Official, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Sunil Narine has been a stalwart of T20 cricket for a while now specially in franchise competitions. He keeps participating in T20 leagues across the globe throughout the year. He has been a familiar name in IPL circle where he represents KKR. Despite being a T20 specialist his performances for Shahrukh Khan owned franchise in India hasn't been upto the mark for the last few seasons. This phase witnessed a significant drop in his performance both as a wicket taking bowler & a lower order batter with a decent hitting ability. He was an integral part of the twin winning campaigns for KKR. No surprise that his performance affected his team's chances of winning another title too.
But this year we are seeing the old Sunil Narine who is not only being as effective as a bowler as ever but providing aggressive starts to his team with the bat at the top of the order. His batting prowess once again has staged him as a threat to the opposition. What changed this year then? In his own admission KKR's newly appointed mentor Gautam Gambhir who was incidentally his first captain at the franchise encouraged him to take up the opener's role once again. He has done that in the past too when he used to bat with freedom at the top of the order during Gambhir's tenure as captain. No surprise that Gambhir implemented his winning formula once again to turn the fortunes of his old franchise with whom he won two IPL titles as captain.
This is a pure example of thoughtful utilization of a valued resource. Narine's performance with the bat has given him the confidence with ball as well and suddenly we are finding the all rounder Sunil Narine. Credit to both Gambhir and Narine as one provided the player a clarity of role with a thorough understanding of his strengths and the other responding in the best possible manner. Whether KKR wins the title this year or not that's a separate discussion but definitely this move to bring the best out of Narine definitely showcases Gambhir's ability as a leader as well as the camaraderie that he shares with the players.
Sun Rising Again
The team that has surprised one and all this season so far is definitely Sunrisers Hyderabad. They were languishing at the bottom of the table most often than not for the past few seasons. Nobody counted on them before the start of the tournament this time too despite addition of some of the big names with the likes of Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga(Missed out this season due to injury). It was one of the top performing outfit a few seasons back. But constant change in leadership group as well as players didn't help their cause. Few tough calls were definitely on the cards to turn their fortune and that's what their management did.
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| Image Credit: www.davidmolloyphotography.com from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Firstly they went all out in the auction for acquiring services of Pat Cummins whose leadership skills are at an all time high at this point of time. Removing Markram from captaincy just after one season might sound a bit harsh considering he has led the Sunrisers franchise to back to back titles in SA20 league. Yet another change in leadership group would have sounded familiar to many but Cummins-Vettori duo has so far surprised many with their newly found ultra aggressive style of play that has seen them breaking some of the decade old IPL records already in the season. The same Indian players who were struggling big time last season have been the chief architects of a turnaround this year. Creating a strong Indian core is one of the major requisites for succeeding in IPL and Cummins has followed that template to perfection. Getting an aggressive opener in the form of Travis Head was no less than a boon in addition to his successful partnership with Abhishek Sharma at the top.
Contributions from young players like Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Mayank Markande, Shahbaz Ahmed along with veterans Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan have been instrumental in their success. And above all not to forget the role of the captain who has been brilliant so far in getting this team together and performing at their best despite no prior experience of captaining a T20 side. In a nutshell this turnaround by SRH has been one of the talking points of this season so far. Where everybody is lauding their aggressive style, lot of credit to be given to the captain-coach duo who are responsible for a mindset shift among the players which is reflecting in their performance now.
It's an ideal instance of impactful leadership to change the fortune of an organization. How the new leadership group has been able to instill the confidence among the same group of players who were at the receiving end a year back is phenomenal. Pat Cummins slowly turning out to be an inspirational leader across formats in addition to his impact as a bowler. Vettori's calmness as a coach is icing on the cake. If SRH can continue the way they are performing now or can even take it a bit higher towards the business end of the tournament there should be lot of proud moments for the orange army. And who knows a captain's luck might take them all the way to lift that elusive trophy too.
Stay tuned for more at this space.
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