The Reverse Sweep

The IPL XI of the tournament

The fallout from Kochigate and the subsequent suspension of Lalit Modi over-shadowed the final and helped us forget to write a post naming our XI of the tournament.  We didn’t watch every game. In fact we didn’t even watch half of them, but we have seen enough to name our XI. As per the IPL rules, we have limited ourselves to a maximum of four overseas players – although we have in fact only picked three.

1.  Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai)– the leading run-scorer in the tournament was the main reason behind Mumbai’s dominance of the regular season. If he was playing for Indiain the World T20, the organisers may as well give MS Dhoni the trophy now.

2. Murali Vijay (Chennai)– Controversially (probably) selected ahead of Kallis, we have opted for Vijay because his superior strike (156.84) would dovetail better with Tendulkar than Kallis’ more methodical approach. And his 127 off only 56 balls against Rajasthan was arguably the innings of the season.

3. Suresh Raina (Chennai)– Third in the leading run-scorers list and at a strike rate of over 142 too, Raina continued his good form in the T20 format and was consistency personified. Man of the match in the final and his fielding was top-class throughout

 

 

4. Saurabh Tiwary (Mumbai)– Gets in ahead of more celebrated names like Symonds, Watson and Jayawardene. Tiwary continually provided the icing on the cake to the excellent starts usually provided for Mumbai by Tendulkar; and in the semi-final (when Sachin failed) his innings provided the platform for Pollard to launch Mumbai into orbit.

5. Robin Uthappa (Bangalore) – The muscle man who warmed up with a medicine ball was the most consistent of the kamikaze attack-at-all-costs batsmen (see post on the Lovers and the Shaggers). Uthappa can win a game in less than five overs as a strike rate of over 171 would suggest. Why is he not in the Indian T20 squad ahead of the disappointing Yuvraj Singh?

6. MS Dhoni, Captain (Chennai)– The inspirational captain behind Chennai’s success and the man that saved their bacon in the do-or-die match against Punjab. Dhoni is rapidly becoming India’s greatest ever captain.

7. Kieron Pollard (Mumbai) – The best all-rounder in the tournament. With the bat he had the highest strike-rate (185.71), with the ball he took a steady supply of wickets at a relatively good economy rate and he was electric in the field. If Mumbai had not held him back until it was too late in the final, who knows what could have happened?

8. Ravichandran Ashwin (Chennai)– With a superlative economy rate of 6.10, Ashwin’s off-breaks typically gave Chennai a great start with the new ball. Ashwin was yet another factor behind Chennai’s resurgence from the mid-point of the season.

9. Amit Mishra (Delhi) – This is probably a biased choice given that Delhiwas my adopted side, but Mishra performed consistently well and took 17 wickets during the competition. To be honest, it could just as easily have been Harbhajan, Ojha, Kumble or Murali though as spin came to the fore.

10. Lasith Malinga (Mumbai)– Malinga’s ability to bowl yorkers at will is a priceless commodity in T20 and with his unorthodox action, he can be unplayable at times. Took 15 wickets and did so at a decent economy rate of just over seven.

 

11. Doug Bollinger (Chennai) – Just pips his Australian colleague Ryan Harris and Zaheer Khan. The arrival of Bollinger coincided with Chennai’s resurgence and his performance in the semi-final and final played a big part in his team’s triumph. In his first match he took two for 15 from four overs against Rajasthan. This was the match that saw 469 runs making it all the more astounding.

The Lovers and the Shaggers

In his column for CricDude a few weeks ago, Jarrod Kimber of Cricket With Balls and Cricket Sadist fame, wrote that they were essentially two types of batsmen in T20 (read his post here). Jarrod called them the mentalists and the clever guys. As the names would suggest, the mentalists adopt a kamikaze approach that rarely comes off, whilst the clever guys take their time, play themselves in and invariably provide more of a contribution.

Having watched some (if not all; as that would make me insane) of the IPL action this season, we at the Reverse Sweep would agree with Jarrod, but would suggest a more base (some may say crude) categorisation.

Jarrod's clever guys are our Lovers. Chivalrous with their foreplay as they caress and ease themselves in, and then maintaining a steady and patient momentum with the ocassional shout out loud moment. Essentially they are aiming to provide pleasure for as long as possible; well for the bulk of the 20 overs at least. Obvious lovers are Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis (perish the thought) and Rahul Dravid.

Then you have the Shaggers. Too selfish to bother with needless foreplay and the inconvenience of playing themselves in, the shaggers start banging away at a frantic pace from ball one. For the most part it ends in crushing disappointment with an abrupt end after only a couple of pumps and a squirt, as they exit stage left with head bowed and bat between their legs. But when it comes off it can provide sheer ecstasy. It can even last all night as evidenced by M (don't call me Murali) Vijay's innings of 127 off 56 balls in the runfest between Chennai and Rajasthan. Some can do it on a more regular basis like Robin Uthappa, some prefer a quick shag like Kieron Pollard, whilst others can even earn superlatives such as being called the best shag they'd ever had. Witness Shane Warne's exaggerated appreciation of Yusuf Pathan's 37 ball 100 against Mumbai in the early stages of the competition - it must have been some shag for Warney to say it was the best he's ever had.

So if nothing else, T20 has given us the lovers and the shaggers; and for that we should be eternally grateful.

Pietersen finally shows the IPL that he can bat

During Bangalore's ultimately successful run chase against Kings XI Punjab last night a surprising statistic was passed when Kevin Pietersen reached 38. Surprisingly, it beat his previous highest score in the IPL.

For someone who walks a fine line between confidence and arrogance with bat in hand that would have been a bit embarrassing. But in part thanks to an awful fielding display by Punjab, Pietersen was able to marshall the Bangalore chase with 66 not out of 44 balls. IPL fans how finally know what KP can do.

Punjab's fielding was so bad that if comprised of Pakistan players, they would probably be accused of match-fixing, heresy or harming the team. To see a team led by King Kumar lacking spirit is a sad sight, as was the disintegration of Brett Lee in the pivotal over of the match.

Although Pietersen and Virat Kohli had kept Bangalore in the hunt chasing down Punjab's 180 for 5, 48 were required off the last four overs. Step forward Robin Uthappa (how has he been left out of the Indian World T20 squad?) and another dose of blitzkrieg batting. Three massive sixes were followed by a horrible ball from Lee that went for five wides and suddenly the game had swung to Bangalore.

For Pietersen, and England for that matter, these are good signs. The old swagger has returned and England's best batsman could prove crucial in the World T20 and Ashes quests that await. KP's place in the pantheon could be there for the taking.