India Abroad - June 09, 2017

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!