A topsy-turvy Season-15 of the IPL is producing thrillers that should please cricket enthusiasts most. As the league entered a new week on Monday, the three teams at the bottom of the table were five-times champions Mumbai Indians lying below four-time winners Chennai Super Kings. The top two teams were newbies Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants followed by Royal Challengers, Bangalore who have never won the IPL.
There is a long way to go and cricketing fortunes could swing like a pendulum. But the lessons served up already are to do with which teams were the sharpest at building combinations within the salary cap. The multiple title winners may not have been blasé about it but they did give the impression that they were either building a team for 10 years hence like Mumbai Indians or saving money for their bosses like CSK by not bidding for the fast bowlers and opening batsmen who are crucial to getting their teams off to a competitive start in each match.
Troubles for the star-studded champions aside, what is proving thrilling are the match-turning performances of the colts like Brevis, Dube, Tilak, Jitesh and Badoni to name only a few from among innumerable strikers. On the other hand, many retained stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Kieren Pollard have been underperforming but draft picks are proving their worth in gold. A number of young Indians flourishing in the spotlight on the big stage is heart-warming even if we know that the IPL is not the best yardstick to measure players who can deliver under pressure of international cricket.
Good pitches that have not restrained the big hitters in the end overs, nor inhibited the chase, have lent a sporting dimension to cricket that is truly attractive. Bowling with the ball wet from dew may be challenging but results have gone either way lately to negate the early season tactic of win the toss, bowl first and win the match. When a stalwart like Dinesh Karthik proves that big-hitting is more about timing than brawn, it serves to show that cricket is still the great leveller. In felling the biggies and giving the underdogs the boost they so thoroughly deserve, this IPL is proving thus far to be one for the ages.
