INDIA ABROAD June 9, 2017 36 SPORTS
INDIAABROAD.COM
By Gaurav Mathur
ell, the 2017 edi-
tion of the Indian
Premier League
(IPL) finally ended
with the Mumbai
Indians (MI) tak-
ing the honors. The team created
history after becoming the first
team to win three IPL titles fol-
lowing their thrilling one-run
win over Rising Pune Supergiant
(RPS) at the Rajiv Gandhi
International Cricket Stadium in
Hyderabad. MI had lost thrice to
RPS earlier this season and final-
ly managed to turn the tables,
thanks to Krunal Pandya and
Mitchell Johnson, who stepped
up their game to
seal an exciting win.
While Pandya’s brilliant 38-ball 47
guided Mumbai to a
fighting 129-run
total, Johnson’s
majestic spell of 3-
26 ensured Pune fell
short by a run. Just
one run!
A total of 129
runs was definitely
below par, but for a
team that was once
reeling at 7-79, Mumbai fans
couldn’t have asked for anything
more.
However Pune, despite dominating the proceedings for most
part, ended up shooting themselves in the foot to eventually
fall short by a run. But this IPL
was not just about the final game
— which proved to be a cracker.
It was also a tournament which
saw plenty of Indian youngsters
make a name for themselves and
I expect that some of these talented youngsters will soon be
donning the India jersey as they
move through their respective
careers.
The Indian quartet of Rahul
Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat,
Washington Sundar and Shardul
Thakur became prominent for
the Rising Pune Supergiants as
the season unfolded. Tripathi
was consistently belligerent,
striking at over 146, and at one
point had seven thirty-plus
scores in eight innings.
Unadkat’s intelligent variations
in pace earned him a hat-trick
against the Sunrisers, and he finished behind only Bhuvneshwar
Kumar with 24 wickets.
Thakur and Sundar also put in
clutch performances; the former
in their last league game - a
must-win against Kings XI
Punjab (KXIP) — and the latter in
the first qualifier against
Mumbai.
Rishabh Pant was in the news
for almost the entire season. The
wicketkeeper batsman for the
Delhi Daredevils is being talked
about as a potential replacement
for M.S. Dhoni in India’s limited-overs squad.
Only time will tell as to when
he’ll be seen in Indian colors. I
suspect that day won’t be far off.
With 366 runs in 14 games at a
strike rate of 165 runs per 100
balls, he finished the second-
highest run-scorer for the fran-
chise this season. He is one of
the hardest hitters of the ball,
His most destruc-
tive knock was the
97 against the
Gujarat Lions. Pant
also showed
remarkable compo-
sure and strength of
mind by commit-
ting to his team just
days after he lost
his father, charac-
teristics which were
acknowledged by legendary
batsman Sachin Tendulkar him-
self.
Nitish Rana also made his
presence felt for the Mumbai
Indians. His composure early on
in the tournament, when he was
instrumental in establishing MI’s
winning streak, was impressive.
Rana was bought by Mumbai
Indians for the equivalent of
$20,000 in U.S. money before
the 2015 IPL, but he never got a
game that season. Mumbai gave
him his due this season and he
responded with 333 runs in
13 games at a strike rate
of 126. Rana made
everyone sit up
and notice early
in the tournament
with 50 off 29 balls,
helping Mumbai pull off a heist
against Kolkata Knight Riders
(KKR). Rana later led the decimation of KXIP in a chase of 199,
finishing with an unbeaten 62.
He scored 42 of those runs in
sixes alone!
RPS bet big
on Rahul
Tripathi and
he answered by
blasting his way to the top. The
only Pune-bred player in the RPS
squad, the right-handed bats-
man was playing his first IPL
season.
He was promoted to open the
batting and the move worked as
he churned out six consecutive
scores of over 30.
Against KKR at Eden
Gardens, Tripathi went on a six-hitting spree, smashing seven of
them. Three of them came off
consecutive deliveries off the
left-arm chinaman bowler
Kuldeep Yadav. That itself is no
mean feat since Yadav had
recently outfoxed the visiting
Australian side in a Test match.
I have always been a fast
bowler at heart and it gladdened
my heart to no end when I saw
the Indian quicks in action. Out
of all the players, one name really stood out — Basil Thampi. It
was surprising to find an
unknown bowler who was bowling well at the death time and
again.
The fast bowler from
Kerala impressed with
his pace. Thampi
was bought by
the franchise for
the equivalent of
US$20,000 and the
deal proved a good
bargain as he finished with 11 wickets
in 12 games. His best figures were 3 for 29 against
eventual champions Mumbai
Indians in a tied match. He has
impressed in the death overs and
overall, he performed well
enough to impress the IPL jury
to take home the Emerging
Player Award for the season.
Don’t forget the Pandya
brothers — Krunal and Hardik —
who contributed in every facet
of the game. While Hardik has
played the finisher’s role and
scored 250 runs at a strike rate of
156.25, Krunal has clicked with
both bat and ball in the tourna-
ment. He made 243 runs from 11
innings with
the bat and
picked up
10 wickets while being the
team’s second most economical
bowler behind Harbhajan Singh.
In the final, it was his 38-ball 47
that nudged Mumbai towards a
decent total following which he
bowled a typically tight spell of
left-arm spin.
KKR had the strongest opening combination. Their opening
partnership of Gautam Gambhir
and Robin Uthappa was one of
the most experienced in the
competition and these two players have a great chemistry
together.
With both of them aiming for
the national team, I suspect
that the likes of Shikhar
Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will
have to work hard to keep
their spot.
Overall it was a dream IPL
finish for many fans. I was
watching the game in a small
café in Toronto and the atmos-
phere was tense to say the least.
As every ball of the last over
was played out, the crowd
swelled around the television
screens.
By the time we got to the last
ball, doors opened from every
part of the restaurant and as
Mumbai sneaked into their third
IPL title, there was a loud cheer,
almost in unison, from those
who couldn’t be bothered about
it just minutes ago.
As for me, I’ll remember the
tournament for the exciting
Indian prospects who stood up
and made their name known.
India’s bench finally roared
loudly for all to hear!
A Triumph
and a Trophy
Mumbai Indians three-time
champs after one-run IPL victory
W
Mumbai Indians celebrate their IPL 2017 win at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, May 21.
I
A
N
S
Hyderabad
finale sees
tables turn in
rivalry with
Pune