IPL - Rajasthan vs Mumbai - Rajasthan win; The game does not
May 14th 2009 18:46
Say what you want. Rajasthan Royals deserved to lose. Shane Warne deserved to lose. And no, I am not your blind Mumbai supporter even though I have towering respect for one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
When Mumbai had Rajasthan on the run, when Abhishek Nayar was swatting them like flies, Graeme Smith found an umpire on a weak throw - on which the Mumbai batsmen stole another run. Smith and Warne protested against this vociferously. Inordinately so. And then when he heard something from the umpire regarding the Fairplay award - he mouthed - 'Fairplay award? F*** that!'. That is where they lost my respect. As a team. And Warne as any kind of leader.
About the cricket - it was what I would call contrived seat edge. When Tendulkar ensured that virtually the entire meat of the batting would be concentrated after Number 4, the inexperienced top order decided to consolidate. Very strange that - considering that they had champions waiting to come. That they were 20 for 1 after 6 overs was to me the pivotal moment.
Even after that Sahin Tendulkar with a calculated 40 - that contained 3 straight drives off Ravindra Jadeja that were absolutely divine - and Abhishek Nayar with a sensational 39 brought Mumbai to a winning position. But Harbhajan and Numbers 9 and 10 could not see it through. It must be mentioned that Munaf Patel bowled as splendid a last over as any that you will see. This is but one of the reasons why I believe he would have been the better pick over R.P.Singh for the Indian T20 squad.
Sport is not always fair. Today that was exemplified. Oh, Sony will take it. Lalit Modi will take it. Because it makes for great viewership. Shilpa praying and competing against Mrs. Ambani may make great pictures. But cricket cannot be let to descend to a level where a captain abuses the underlying premise of the game so.
Rajasthan's win is not being grudged here. If one cannot learn and revere the art of leg spin after watching Shane Warne bowl today, then it is safe to say you never will! His spell today was as good a lesson in the importance of changing tack as a legspinner - when to attack and when to defend, when to feed the batsman and when to deny them, when to tease them and when to foil them. His bowling against Sachin was what turned the contest in Rajasthan's favour after the little champion seemed to infuse urgency into the Mumbai campaign with 3 consecutive and stunning boundary hits. On the other hand it is their grumpy, extremely disproportionate and frankly disgusting behaviour which is being condemned.
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