Page 23 - IPL1

with the TRPs of between 4 and 6 during India’s one-day series
in Australia earlier in the year, when interest was high following
the spat between Symonds and Harbhajan Singh during the
New Year test at Sydney.

Each franchise provided a story of its own. Chennai Super Kings
won their first four matches, lost their next three, but recovered
YOU ADORE SHAHRUKH, LOVE PREITY,
through the incandescent batting of Dhoni and Suresh Raina to
reach a final they very nearly won. The Delhi Daredevils bowling
attack underlined the eternal values of line and length through
Glenn McGrath and Farveez Maharoof, and boasted one of the YOU ADORE SHAHRUKH, LOVE PREITY,
most watchable opening pairs in the tournament in Virender
Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The other beaten semi-finalists,

Kings XI Punjab, unearthed the surprise of the tournament:
Shaun Marsh’s career may never be the same again after topping WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
the run charts with a grand total of 616. AND WORSHIP DHONI.

Fortunes differed for the four franchises that failed to make
it out of the group stages. Mumbai Indians were forced to
field three captains during the course of the tournament:
Sachin Tendulkar was recovering from a groin injury, before
his replacement Harbhajan Singh was promptly banned for
slapping an opponent, leaving Shaun Pollock to fill in. It was to
Mumbai’s credit that they came so close to progressing after
losing their first four matches.

Kolkata started with a big bang thanks to McCullum, but never
quite played with enough consistency after that, despite the
fiery leadership of Sourav Ganguly. The biggest surprises,
though, was the failure of Bangalore Royal Challengers and
Deccan Chargers, two of the wealthiest franchises and much
fancied teams. Royal Challengers won just four matches amid
accusations that the squad they had chosen was more suited
to Test cricket than the hurly-burly of the Twenty20 game, and
the Hyderabadis went through their own blues, managing just
two victories, despite boasting an A to Z of some of the game’s
biggest hitters.

However, what will always be an enduring memory of the
tournament will be the extent to which it captured the
imagination of cricket crazed India. From billboards to

commercials, from street gossip to detailed analysis in the
nation’s dailies, IPL became a daily part of India’s millions.

For a tournament staged at such short notice, this truly was an
incredible achievement.

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