We are somewhere in between this 44 days long Karmayuddha named IPL. Two teams have given a great learning for those interested orchestra which requires perfect teamwork more than anything else. Even if you have best of musical instruments played by one of the biggest names known to play them, the music could still turn out to be cacophonous. If the rookies try to play music in unison, you might well hear something pleasing to ears.

Deccan Chargers have belonged to the first category. Before the start of the tournament, they were one of the strongest contenders to win this first version of IPL because of their heavy artillery only to find themselves as the favorite punching bag of IPL. No wonder they are fighting for their life somewhere at the bottom of the points table. They have won only when Gilchrist has fired and as I write, they have lost him against KKR. The result will need a miracle to beat the expectations. DC have been the biggest disappointment in IPL even more than Royal Challengers because RC don’t seem to have got the fit for t20 squad.

Rajasthan Royals have been on the other extreme under the leadership of Shane Warne. Their time in IPL has been nothing less than a fairytale. Their batting has rarely been tested because bowlers have been fantastic although it comprises of an aged Shane Warne, a “fifth bowler” for Australia starting the bowling and a bowler termed as disappointment for his team – Munaf Patel. But everything has clicked for them so far.

Sometimes you do your best when the only party who has got something to loose is your opponent. Others got to be aware of this fact in the second round while battling for a berth in Semi-Finals when they play against DC. DC might well turn out to be the party spoilers for a few sides.

If the first few matches were showcases for Australians to demonstrate why they are a superpower in world cricket, now we see a lot of Indians coming up with commendable performances.

Delhi Daredevil’s batsmen in Sehwag, Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan have done really well so far. Suresh Raina, Badrinath and Dhoni have tried their best to make Chennai Super Kings forget the departure of Hussey and Hayden. Rohit Sharma has been successfully fighting the unsuccessful battles for DC. Yousuf Pathan seems to have become a threat in T20 for all the bowlers. Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s performance makes us wonder a bit about his absence from the main scene when India was looking for an all-rounder in the last few years.

But it’s the bowlers who make more realistic impression in this game heavily loaded against them. Irfan Pathan has been the best of the lot with economy rate of less than 6.5 and giving a tough fight to Zaheer Khan for being the leading wicket staker in the tournament. CSK’s Manpreet Singh Gony seems to have caught everyone’ eyes with his accurate medium pace bowling although he doesn’t seem to have much of pace. When you are bowling in the range of 125-130 at the age of 24, not much improvement could be expected from there. Although how he fairs in conditions which are little less brutal for bowler is something which remains to be seen. Same could be said about Ashoke Dinda of KKR. Piyush Chawla has also been impressive not only with the ball but also with the bat to some extent as has been Praveen Kumar for RC.

IPL does expose this bunch of local talent to a competition which could be termed close in terms of intensity in international cricket. But success in this format of the game doesn’t guarantee a good performer in longer versions of the game especially for batsmen. Although a good bowler here is more likely to be a safer bet in longer versions.

- Vibhash