Charging Ahead

By Gulu Ezekiel

Ten days back in my blog I wrote how another Australian captain could well be holding up the IPL Trophy at the end of final on Sunday following the triumph of Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season.
That captain is Adam Gilchrist of the Deccan Chargers and he is now one win away from the prediction.
Standing in Gilchrist’s way are the two other teams from the South, Chennai Super Kings led by India captain MS Dhoni and the Bangalore Royal Challengers captained by his predecessor, Anil Kumble. So what that ensures is that Sunday’s final is going to be an all South clash.
If Bangalore due beat Chennai on Saturday, then the amazing turnaround will be complete.
Rajasthan after all were the champions last year while Deccan finished last and Bangalore second last.
Gilchrist showed during his international career spanning a decade that when he was in form, few batsmen in history could come anywhere near his murderous strokeplay. He demonstrated that in full measure in the semifinal against Delhi Daredevils on Friday and if he can carry that form into the final, it will be a one-horse race.
Indeed the batting on display on Thursday and Friday spanned the generations in the IPL.
On Thursday Manish Pandey from Bangalore became the first Indian to score a century in the IPL. At 19 he is just about young enough to be Gilchrist’s son! So 20/20 cricket is not about age, but more about audacity after all.
Delhi managed to reach so far despite their top two batsmen of 2008, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir failing. And despite benching Glenn McGrath for the entire tournament.
McGrath is 39 and retired from international cricket. But he had the best economy rate among Delhi’s bowlers last year and has now indicated he may not return for the next edition.
No wonder Delhi’s coach Greg Shippard has joined the chorus, demanding the IPL raise the number of foreigners in the playing XI from four to five!

www.sportshero.com (23/5/09)