The IPL Athletic Supporter's Note - VI

It was a tale of captains. The first one missed a few tricks and ended up losing. And the second watched helplessly as the team he led last year went to pieces once again.

The Super Kings outfit is still very strong. But the brand of canny leadership that Dhoni has come to personify is missing.

CSK's batting was again proof of certain set patterns which have almost sent this team out of the reckoning. Parthiv Patel is not firing. Another opener (Murali Vijay?) might be a better pick. And Badrinath is not of much use coming in where he does. I have said this before - Badrinath should come in higher, He rotates the strike and keeps one end going. But then, some decisions are inexplicable.

160 plus was never going to be enough against the most destructive opening pair in the IPL. Messrs. Gilchrist and Gibbs proved that with some truly breathtaking hitting. No manufactured shots. No ugly heaves. Just aggressive batsmanship at its volatile best.

I for one thought that someone as good a captain as Dhoni would have spotted how Ojha and Rohit Sharma slowed things down and made run-getting difficult when CSK batted. Might have been a better idea if Dhoni had opened with Murali. It would not have allowed Gilchrist to use the pace of the new ball. And it might have opened up options against Gibbs.

But that did not happen. Am not complaining, as I was busy applauding Gilchrist's assault which more or less decided the match. That the Deccan Chargers did not get a move on and finish things off earlier is surprising. CSK need to go back and see what worked for them last year.But even so, it might be too late.

The second match was something else. I for one have not seen Tendulkar bat like this in a long time. He was like a mischievous kid in an amusement park. Will not spoil things by describing each shot. But one slap pull off Ishant Sharma over wide mid-on stands out for sheer arrogance. Jayasuriya was his usual mixture of bludgeon and caress.

KKR came back briefly after the break to tighten things up a little, but it was too late by then. As for the KKR batting, they looked like a side that had resigned itself to its fate. Ganguly sparkled briefly, almost as if to once again stick a Post-It on Buchanan's board, but it didn't really matter in the end.

Ganguly as KKR captain may not be in Buchanan's ppt on ideal captaincy. But motivation, cunning and sheer stature are sadly missing from the KKR leadership. Maybe it's time for Buchanana to announce that the multi-captain theory is still very much there and get Ganguly back at the helm. But then, will Ganguly accept the captaincy now?

BTW, I have found the perfect descriptor for the strategy break. It should be rechristened 'Rhythm Break', for that is what it does.