|
Twenty20
By Anand Kumar
After Kolkata kicked defending champions Rajasthan out of the second IPL today and Chennai almost shut the door on Punjab’s possibility of making it to the semi finals (mathematically they still have a remote chance), I wanted to have a look at the current standing in the IPL-2 as of now and could observe an interesting pattern. If you look at the below colorful points table, there is a reason why the last 4 rows have been marked yellow.
| Team |
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Tied |
N/R |
Pts |
Net RR |
For |
Against |
| Delhi Daredevils |
13 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
0.251 |
1812/237.5 |
1788/242.4 |
| Chennai |
14 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
17 |
0.951 |
2086/255.3 |
1855/257.1 |
| Deccan Chargers |
13 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0.265 |
1953/252.4 |
1927/258.1 |
| Bangalore |
13 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
-0.253 |
1824/256.0 |
1869/253.2 |
| Kings XI Punjab |
14 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
-0.483 |
1787/251.2 |
1887/248.3 |
| Rajasthan Royals |
14 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
-0.352 |
1688/253.1 |
1810/257.5 |
| Mumbai Indians |
13 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
0.401 |
1732/236.2 |
1636/236.1 |
| Kolkata |
14 |
3 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
-0.789 |
1757/248.5 |
1867/237.5 |
Together with Bangalore, these four teams, Kolkata, Punjab, Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals would probably make the glamorous group within the IPL. The common notable points about these teams:
- The ownership was mostly individual.
- The running was mostly glamorous
Seeing these teams at the bottom of the table, came to my mind, could this be a basic lesson for those owners? Did cricket at the end seem to emerge as winner over the glamour yet again for the second time in a row? Is this game more than the individual and glamour would hardly fetch success on the field (off the field, probably yes)? If yes, when would the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta understand this?
Rajasthan was a much unknown team last season but with success came the glamour in the form of Shilpa Shetty and Co. and the team couldn’t make it to semis. Story about Punjab (Preity), Kolkata (Shahrukh), Mumbai (Neeta Ambani) and Bangalore (Vijay Malaya) is well known to everyone.
Probably these things are not directly related to the positions of the team as much but they sure have played a part. Cricket is not an individual game and this fact puts cricket in a different league altogether among other sports. This is very much a team game and should best be left to those who play the game on the field in the real time. By making close and unnecessary presence in the dugouts and other places, the owners might just have made mistakes. Such things might have put extra pressure on the players to perform or the tempting glamour around might have just distracted them a bit from their focus. Who knows what exactly, but there was a correlation in the last IPL and there seems to be a definite correlation in this IPL as well.
This theory does lack to explain the Bangalore’s possible semi final spot, however on a funnier note, we can take that as an exception, given that Katrina Kaif only cheered her team from India this time, a mark able difference from the ways of other celebrities.
This feeling is also reinforced by the teams like Delhi, Chennai and Deccan making into top 4, where we didn’t see the owners’ presence onto the field area and these teams seemed to play like a proper cricket team. It still remains to be seen who finally will clinch the Mega Trophy, but the glamorous ones have been shown the door once again.
Disclaimer: This blog could seem to be illogical and furious to few, but it is intended to those who would find it logically funny.
The writer is a software consultant by profession and an avid cricket player & writer by passion based in Phoenix, Arizona. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent those of the publisher.
|
|
|