Forgive them, they not not what they do..

Now that the IPL trophy has moved to Kolkota and last heard is in the hands of Didi, I thought I might skip this post, however considering the antics that followed the win I must write about the final.

Actually CSK has done itself and the rest of us fans and non fans alike a great dis-service by losing the final. I thought only Navjot Sidhu and maybe Danny Morrison are permitted tomfoolery in the vicinity of a cricket match but now we have SRK. So captivated by the match was SRK that he forgot to dye his stubble and he forgot that there is some decorum expected of him each time. Makes you wonder why folks go and see his movies after this. And now maybe Didi will paint Kolkota purple to celebrate this momentous event. Damn you CSK.Why did you not do the little things right that could have left us savouring an expected win and celebrating it well just the usual way? Let me see a few things could have changed the match:

1.  Over no. 20 of the CSK innings was a major anticlimax and credit to Shakib for tying down MSD and Raina to singles and a double(s). Personally I think CSK did everything right till over 19.
2.  A big over by Albie Morkel showed CSK one dimension of Bisla was the movement towards leg and hit over off, but his strength was supported. However one bad over does not make a match so that over is excusable
3.  The over by the trump card Ashwin hurt me bad, I am unable to understand why an off spinner bowling into a RHB chooses to bowl around the wicket. Bang, Bang a new dimension of Bisla was discovered. He can hit down the leg side and by the time Ashwin went over the wicket, the horse as they say had bolted. I was always puzzled when Murali the wizard employed that line, but Murali has a bigger bag of tricks than Ashwin and 800 on his back is not a boast. Ashwin has the offspinner, the carrom ball both of which get negated with a poor line. But hey I never played cricket and I am just voicing my thoughts so if you think I am silly, so be it.
4.  The million dollar baby has to justify his price, when he is not bowling or batting he should contribute in the field, two run outs were missed, missing a direct hit is pardonable but lack of intelligence in the heat of the moment is not. Kallis was a wounded tiger turning down the second run and yet when he was scrambling for a double the throw goes wide to the other end. Small things matter and just sporting a haircut with CSK may not be enough to justify the 2 million.
5.  The catch of the no ball of Hilfy by Murali gave away 3 runs, more importantly it brought back Shakib on strike. If only Murali had watched the events on the pitch and restricted the running to a single, maybe there would have been some pressure in the last over
6. The last over, the commentators were almost pleading on their mikes for Bravo to shelve his slower ball and if he must bowl one to pitch it right up to the block hole. Sadly it was not to be and lightning did hit twice, almost a carbon copy delivery and a nearly same destination for the ball. The trophy was gone and we saw the cart wheels by SRK. 

 In hindsight a SRK cartwheel is infinitely better than one by Srinivasan and I do wonder if he ended up in hospital practicing one.

But CSK we still love you and the play offs made up for the lows of the league matches and I am personally grateful for knocking the MI off any fancy pedestals they built with two victories. Personally I would have preferred a DD Vs CSK victory because they seemed the more deserving finalists and fairytales are made when the topper is beaten by the last place team, but it will have to wait for another year.

And my best moment of the IPL is definitely Rahul Dravid getting a trophy that could have been named Mr. Nice Guy. It is for guys like Rahul, Rahane, Awana, Mandeep, even Bisla that the IPL is worth watching when CSK is not playing of course.