The New IPL

The first two days of the ‘International’ IPL have thrown up quite a few surprises for anyone who followed the tournament last year. To begin with, the ‘successful’ teams last year have been beaten comprehensively in the first two days. Chennai Super Kings (runners up 2008) lost to the Mumbai Indians in probably the closest fought match in this IPL. The champions last year, Rajasthan Royals, were walloped by arguably the worst team last year, the Royal Challengers. Finally, the Deccan Chargers, the team that disappointed last year after building up an arsenal of the dream team of pitch hitters, came through with a strong victory over the ‘all show’ Knight Riders. It is as though twenty-twenty cricket has undergone a drastic image makeover. The four’s and six’s have been a rare treat in South Africa as opposed to what we saw last year. The team totals have declined drastically with Rajasthan Royals’ 58 all-out taking the cake hands down.

With underdogs consistently outperforming the favourites and teams fighting for triple digit totals, the new pitches and weather conditions seem to have a much greater bearing on the game than one would have previously imagined. The experience of the old guard, which was undermined last time, now seems to be a great asset. The bowlers (particularly spinners) have an upper hand on the batsmen, a rare spectacle in the sub continent. Can these changes be attributed only to a change in location? Have the teams that had performed below expectations now revamped their teams and strategy? Is the rain just a short term feature in the tournament? Do the batsmen need more time to get used to the conditions? These questions will be answered as the tournament unfolds, but we can definitely say that this IPL, as compared to its predecessor, is a whole new ball game.