Jubilant Rajasthan Royals players celebrate after defeating Chennai Super Kings in a final-ball thriller in Mumbai on Sunday.
The inaugural DLF-IPL Twenty20 competition was not about the big hits alone. Pacemen with control and movement struck. Spinners with clarity of thought and variety largely delivered. There were phases when batsmen who could graft were needed by their teams like oxygen. And natural stroke-makers flourished without resorting to crude methods.
Of course, there were a few ugly heaves that went for the maximum and a few dismissals that were self-inflicted. But then, Twenty20 cricket proved more than just a ‘hit or miss’ format.
Shane Warne, a tactically sharp captain with great motivational skills, showed strategy had its place even in the shortest version of the game. Warne shuffled his batsmen, managed his overs wonderfully well and switched his fielders around with great tact, either luring or suffocating the batsmen.
Fittingly, the Royals skipper was in the middle when his team nailed a humdinger off the last ball in a pulsating final.
The popular IPL witnessed packed stadiums and high-octane duels. The competition could grow in the years to come.
Chennai Super Kings lost by a short head and the side paid for a couple of tactical lapses in the final. S. Badrinath could have been sent higher in the order and the side should have squeezed in an extra bowler in the eleven for the title clash.
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