Page 193 - IPL1

I
f there was any franchise location that seemed to
encapsulate the glamour and razzmatazz of the DLF Indian
Premier League more than any other, then it had to be Mumbai.
The city is, in every sense, one of the powerhouses of India, a
place that oozes glitz and star quality and is famous the world
over for being the headquarters of Bollywood. This centre
of business, film and fashion was a fitting place for the main
auction for the big name players in February. An electrifying
occasion that in one day stood the cricket world upon its head.
It was a necessity that the franchise contained players of star
quality and there was no greater star in the firmament than
Sachin Tendulkar, the most famous cricketing son of Mumbai or
anywhere else for that matter.
Things did not go according to plan. Tendulkar missed Mumbai’s
first seven matches with a groin injury, and had to watch from the
sidelines as his team lost their first four games, not to mention
their stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh, who was banned for
10 games after slapping Sreesanth in the face following defeat
to Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on April 25. Mumbai rallied to
win their next six matches as the explosive Sri Lankan opener
Sanath Jayasuriya began to find his range at the top of the order,
but three successive defeats towards the business end of the
group stages eventually cost Mumbai a chance of a semi-finals
slot. Even with Tendulkar now back in the side and scoring runs,
the overall feeling was one of anti-climax. At a cost of US$111.9
million, the most expensive of the right franchises, the Mumbai
Indians had not quite lived up to expectations. In the end, the
city’s only involvement with the final was the fact that the game
was staged at the hugely impressive Dr DY Patil Sports Stadium.
There were moments, however, when few sides could live
with the Mumbaikars, and most of them came from the bat of
Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan has made life a misery for opening
bowlers ever since 1996 when he made such an impact in his
nation’s sensational run to win the World Cup, Jayasuriya can
claim to be one of those few players who really changed the
game with his ‘pinch-hitting’ that took so many opponents by
surprise. Approaching his 39th birthday when the tournament
began and with more than 400 caps in 50-over cricket, he was the
oldest player in last year’s ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa,
the West Indian World Cup. Now, after a slow start in which he
having already shown his enduring value by scoring 467 runs in
failed to pass 34 in seven innings, he proved his worth again in
spectacular fashion.
His innings of 114 not out in 48 balls, of which 11 disappeared
for six, in the win over Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai rivalled
Brendon McCullum’s opening-night efforts for Kolkata Knight
Riders for the cleanliness of its hitting. That knock helped
Mumbai pass Chennai’s respectable 156 for six with 37 balls and
9 wickets to spare, but Jayasuriya’s work was not done. Two days
later, Mumbai skittled Kolkata for 67, at which point Jayasuriya
cracked 48 not out in 17 balls to secure victory in just 5.3 overs.
In the space of three days, he had made 162 runs in 65 deliveries,
and he never looked back; his next five innings yielded 214 runs.
The only shame was that the neutrals were not able to enjoy
his cross-batted brilliance in the semi-finals as Delhi Daredevils
ended up pipping Mumbai Indians to a place in the last four by
a single point.
Jayasuriya received steady, if slightly less spectacular support,
from the talented young Indian batsman Robin Uthappa, who
mixed grit with class to score 320 runs and who was still there
at the crease in four of Mumbai’s successful run chases. Nothing
he did detracted from the notion that he can be a part of India’s
one-day top order for years to come. The West Indies all-rounder
Dwayne Bravo was one of the side’s most unsung cricketers. He
contributed frequently with both bat (his innings of 64 not out
against Kolkata lifted Mumbai Indians to their first win of the
tournament, a seminal moment for the side), and ball, where his
nagging medium-pacers could generally be relied upon to keep
opposition batsmen quiet and even take a couple of wickets.
Shaun Pollock was predictably outstanding, despite having
recently concluded an international career that saw him
become one of South Africa’s greatest of all time. Although he
gradually lost pace as he entered his thirties – he used to bowl
so much you worried his arm might fall off – Pollock made up
for it with his excellent cricketing brain and superb control. A
bowler’s bowler, he belied his 34 years to get through 46 overs
and concede just 6.54 runs an over – the kind of economy-rate
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