The second edition of the Indian Premier League was bigger and better than the inaugural one. New heroes emerged, while some of the old guard left lasting images. Here we take a closer look at some of the hits and misses of the IPL-2.
THE HITS
Matthew Hayden: The retired Australia opener gave a lesson in T20 batting to all his peers. Hayden was destructive in notching up 546 runs at an astounding average of 54.60 and a strike-rate of 145. He will fittingly take the ‘Orange Cap’ from another Australian — Shaun Marsh, who won it in the inaugural edition.
Adam Gilchrist: Another former Australian stood out with his batting and captaincy skills. It was Hayden’s long-time ODI opening partner Adam Gilchrist, who finally tallied 495 runs at a strike-rate of 153.
He saved his best for the high-flying Delhi Daredevils, plummelling them for a magnificent 35-ball 85 in the semifinals. His captaincy was also inspirational throughout leading his side to a historic win in the IPL-2 final.
Anil Kumble: Of the elder statesmen among the Indians, Anil Kumble put up a titanic display. The former India captain turned around a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore brilliantly and guided them to the IPL-2 final.
When Kumble took over, RCB were at the bottom of the table but the team were a rejuvenated unit under him. He has also snared 21 wickets in IPL-2 — the second highest in the tournament — including the best-ever T20 figures so far of 5/5 against Rajasthan Royals.
He stopped the marauding Deccan Chargers and their skipper Gilchrist in their tracks and ended up with 4/16 in the final.
Rohit Sharma: The Deccan Chargers batsman was declared the Citi ‘Under-23 success of the tournament’ by the IPL. And for good reason too. By the end, the Mumbai batsman had tallied 386 runs and also picked up 11 wickets in IPL-2, including a hat-trick.
His 26-run blitz off Kolkata Knight Riders’ Mashrafe Mortaza’s in the last over of the match remains one of the highlights of the tournament.
R.P. Singh: The left-arm paceman from Rae Barelli looked like a man on a mission. His scintillating display with the ball for the Deccan Chargers has given him the ‘Purple Cap’ in the tournament. R.P. has so far picked up 23 wickets and has earned a recall into Team India for the World T20 tournament in England.
THE MISSES
Virender Sehwag & Gautam Gambhir: The Delhi Daredevils openers were considered the most destructive combination in the tournament. However, their collective failure in IPL-2 probably cost the team a chance to play in the final. Time and again, the Daredevils were bailed out by their middle-order batsman but ran out of steam in the semifinals.
Sehwag tallied 198 at an average of 19.8, while Gambhir was slightly better with 286 runs.
Kevin Pietersen & Andrew Flintoff: The English duo came with huge price tags of $1.55 million each into the tournament but were expensive disasters. RCB won just one match out of six under the leadership of Pietersen, who himself only scored 93 runs in six matches before returning home. Flintoff played in three matches, scored 62 runs and picked up only two wickets before flying back to England with an injury.
Rajasthan Royals: Charismatic Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne couldn’t work his magic this time around. Last year’s successes Ravindra Jadeja and Swapnil Asnodkar failed to fire with the bat. Royals’ $650,000 buy — Tyron Henderson — also failed to live up to his billing as they crashed out with a disappointing loss to the bottom-placed KKR team.
Brendon McCullum: A lot was expected of McCullum, when he replaced Sourav Ganguly as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders. But IPL-2 was a never-ending nightmare for the team as they finished at the bottom of the points table. The Kiwi stumper tallied 285 runs and was uninspirational as a skipper.
Sanath Jayasuriya: The Matara Marauder had a forgettable tournament with the bat. Much was expected of Jayasuriya — opening the batting with Sachin Tendulkar — but he tallied 221 runs with the bat at an average of only 18.
— Devadyuti Das
