Letting off Suresh Raina twice proved costly... but what followed was even more so. Kieron Pollard was sent at when the asking rate was about 15. He may look like a beast, but he is still a human being. Had he been sent just a wicket or two earlier, he would have atleast had the breathing space to pull off the chase. I know I sound like a sore MI supporter... but it can't be denied that by the time Pollard came in to bat, it was already MI for Mumbai... Mission Impossible!
Congratulations to CSK... the silver lining is that finally, after three years, it was an Indian captain who got to lift the heavy trophy (it is pretty heavy... Lalit Modi almost dropped it at the time of presentation).
Now, as the CSK team celebrates, they and the other teams have already diverted their focus to the upcoming World Twenty20 Championship to be held in the West Indies from April 30. They will not only have to fight the opposition, but also fatigue... especially India. Now, Praveen Kumar and R Vinay Kumar will be facing off against Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Mark Boucher and van der Merwe, who were their teammates just a few days back.
On the whole, though there was some good cricket in this IPL, I was disappointed by the lack of close finishes. I have already touches upon this point in one of my previous blogs... the fact that as compared to the last edition, this IPL featured a lot fewer close finishes. The tightness of the points table somewhat made up for this... but when the last four matches (2 semis, 3rd place playoff and finals) all turn out to be less-than-exciting finishes, the last flourish does not leave a good taste.
Maybe it was the pitch to blame (win-the-toss-bat-first-win-the-match-pitch), but cricket in the end did not win as comprehensively as it should have!
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