The 3rd edition of the IPL seems to have drawn substantially more attention than the earlier ones, what with all the controversy surrounding the teams' ownership and the circus involving the politico. Sometimes wonder how all this is ever related to cricket or if people do actually take all this seriously enough to have created the cayos, that the league is in (in non-cricketing terms anyway).
However, all said and done, the cricket in the matches upto the final have been delightful, with scores typically upwards of 160. Mumbai Indians have looked easily the best side so far and are easily the favourites to win the final. The Bangalore team looked like the 2nd best team on paper with a strong batting line-up and Dale Steyn leading the bowling side with deliveries over 150+ kmh in the initial overs. A disappointment in the tournament was the KKR team. They performed well in patches and could have made it to the semis if it wasn't for the silly losses to Punjab Kings XI and Rajastan Royals early on in the tourney. Although their foreign players and the other big names didn't fair all that badly, the lesser known Indian players were a big let down. Infact, the Indian part of the KKR team was probably the weakest in the tournament. They need to come back in the next edition of the tournament with a better league of Indian players. A revelation in the KKR team was Sourav Ganguly's catching. What he could not do on the field in all the years playing for India, he demonstrated in his fielding in this league. I wonder if playing for individual egos has brought out the best among some of the players. All said and done, the final 2 teams are sealed and may I wish that the better of the 2 teams on the day wins the cup. Heres looking forward to the final!
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