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iThe extravagant IPL ended with a thrilling final match with Rajasthan Royals finally lifting the trophy. RR is a brand known the world over – it stands for Rolls Royce. Now one more combination would enter annals of history – the Rajasthan Royals..
AFTER THE two one-sided semifinals, the final match of the first ever Indian Premier League (IPL) was a treat for the huge gathering at the Dr DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. The spectators got more than their money’s worth in the form of the closing ceremony comprising laser shows, acrobatics and songs and dances in addition to the game that went on to the last over. It was a tough fight, as all finals are and the advantage lay with the Rajasthan Royals because it had Shane Warne to muster his resources so wonderfully. He is not new to playing in finals and is aware of the excitement apart from the tensions that accompany any such event – it finally turned to be all about keeping one’s nerves. This is where Dhoni’s team faltered – the missed chances of getting the opposition players out were one of the main reasons for the debacle.
When the Chennai Super Kings took the field after losing the toss, the openers gave it a fantastic start. Even though one of the openers perished soon, it was left to Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina to take on the bowling – they did so in real earnest. But, when they left, the slide began. Dhoni would rue the decision to send Kapugedera up the order – if Badrinath had come in place of Kapugedera, the situation might have been different. Dhoni had at one time thought of crossing the 200 run mark, he fell short by nearly 40 runs – that was what brought about the downfall. The strategy of Shane Warne of keeping his main bowlers Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson to bowl the death overs paid rich dividends – when the score should have been boosted up in the final overs by slogging, Dhoni was groveling for singles.
