Page 226 - IPL1

established themselves as early favourites with wins over
Bangalore and Deccan Chargers. But he never quite regained
that form and ended up conceding 49 runs in four overs against
Kings XI Punjab. Shoaib’s contribution was short and reasonably
sweet, and too much burden was shouldered by Ajit Agarkar
and Ashok Dinda, although there was a welcome contribution
from the Pakistan seamer Umar Gul, who took three for 31 in
the controversial defeat to Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur in his
first game and closed with four for 23 in the victory over Kings
XI Punjab. Despite being the leading wicket-taker in the World
Cup last year, Gul was picked up for just $150,000 in the player
auction, which looked like a real snip and turned out to be
exactly that.

Kolkata drifted in and out of the reckoning like a piece of wood
transported by the tides, but ultimately they left themselves
with too much to do. The optimism of those early victories was
quickly replaced by despondency and four successive defeats,
none more infuriating than the nine-run reverse to Kings XI

Punjab in Mohali. Dinda, Hussey, Ganguly and Shoaib combined
to help bring wins in the next three matches, with Ganguly’s
57-ball 91 against Deccan Chargers one of the highlights of
Kolkata’s tournament (McCullum’s innings always excepted,
of course). But any lingering hopes of a place in the last four
disappeared with three more defeats, including the 67-all out
debacle against Mumbai Indians which seemed to knock the
stuffing out of the Kolkatans. A point from a washout in Delhi
and two from the last-ditch victory over the Punjabis were not
enough to lift Kolkata above sixth place in the qualifying table,
but they knew that if they had translated just one of their seven
defeats into a victory, a semi-final spot could have been theirs.

The one consolation was that the Knight Riders were probably
the most recognised team throughout the whole of India,
mainly because of their association with Shah Rukh Khan. Most
days his image was plastered on front pages across the country,
ensuring that Kolkata was never far from the collective public
consciousness. It was just a pity the same could not always be
said for the city’s cricket team.

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