The A to Z of IPL 6

So, another IPL came ended yesterday. But the excitement promises to continue as police forces across the country square off against each other, trying to notch up the maximum number of high-profile arrests. Mumbai Police, lead by Satyapal Singh, and Delhi Police, with a redeemed Neeraj Kumar at the helm, seem to be the front-runners right now. Yes, it’s been that kind of time, where cops have been as much involved as the players themselves. But then cricket was at the center of it all, and so I tried compiling everything that has been going on for the past seven weeks.

A for Auction: That is where it all begins. However, this year it continued even after the tournament had begun. Some players decided to put their integrity up for sale. It was only the tip of the iceberg, as it turned out to be the worst phase Indian cricket has had to go through.

B for Bollywood: Bollywood has been an integral part of the IPL since its inception. Bollywood stars have been doing everything, from owning teams to congratulatory hugs to cartwheels. This year, they took a step ahead and started betting on matches. Leading the pack was Vindoo Dara Singh (not sure if I’d call him a Bollywood “star” though).

C for Celebrations: Took a catch, shake your legs. Got a wicket, Gangnam Style. Hit the winning runs, rock the baby. Various dance moves were on display this IPL. The West Indians won the contest hands down. Bhajji, Gilly, Hodge and some others were in the fray too.

D for Dravid: Each brick in The Wall was put to test. And boy, he passed them all. He batted as if he was playing T20s all his life, and led by example. Rajasthan Royals, widely believed to be the strongest of the second tier teams, finished third, only behind powerhouses CSK and MI. The only blot being the fixing scandal, which was first revealed within his team; unfortunate for a player of Dravid’s integrity. But he carried his team through it admirably.

E for Extra Innings T20: Struggling actors Gaurav Kapoor and Sameer Kochhar, along with heavily accented Rochelle Rao and Karishma Kotak, dancing to ‘Balam Pichkari’ along with ‘Sheripa’, who would recite a boring couplet and follow it with a loud “thoko”. You thought you were watching a cricket match pre-show, didn’t you?

F for Fixing: The ghost of fixing hit the IPL too, and startling revelations continue to be made every day. Players, actors, team owners, a small time actor and bookies – all have been arrested. But the harm has been done. Let’s hope the guilty are punished heavily and cricket retains its lost sheen soon.

G for Gaylestorm: One fine morning, Chris Gayle woke up said, “Let’s break some records today”. Later that day, he was found batting on 50 at the end of the 5th over, and at 100 when the 9th ended. He ended up on an individual score 175. Enough said.

H for Heroes: Many players continued to be heroes for their teams. Narine, Hussey, Raina, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Watson and Marsh tore through their oppositions. David Miller is a new entrant in this category and hopefully, he’ll continue to follow his father’s advice – “If it’s in the V, it’s in the tree; if it’s in the arc, it’s out of the park”.

I for Indian Talent: This is something that IPL has always done. Bringing up young Indians and making them stars. Sanju Samson, Mandeep Singh, Manan Vohra, and the three Sharmas (Mohit, Karan and Sandeep) were arguably the brightest ones this year.

J for Jhumping Jhapaak: ‘Tees Maar Khan’ had proved to the world that Farah Khan could be annoying. But no, we still had to watch Dil Jhumping Jhapaak Jhumpak Jhumpak. And we had to treat our eyes to Sameer Kochhar dancing to this while teaming up red pants with a black shirt and white blazer. Things don’t get much worse, I tell you.

K for Kamaal catches/Kieron Pollard: Synonymous, aren’t they? Kieron Pollard smoked some incredibly huge sixes this year. But he also took some catches which were much more than just extraordinary. Out of the three best catches of the tournament, two were Pollard’s. And they practically won matches for Mumbai.

L for Low scoring matches: Never before in the IPL were low scoring matches so interesting. Thanks to Sunrisers Hyderabad, we had some excellent matches in the 130-140 range. They displayed remarkable ease in defending low targets, including once when they defended 120 after their opponents were 101/4 in 16 overs.

M for Mumbai Indians: Finally, the big spending Mumbai Indians ended up winning the tourney. They shelled out a million for Glenn Maxwell and he played 5 matches. That tells you how rich they are. But when Akash Ambani is running around the ground in ecstasy, all the investments have been worth it.

N for Nayi Soch Award: Because the BCCI had excess of money, they decided to introduce the Nayi Soch Award as ‘something new’ this season. It was given to someone who tried something different and pulled it off. Like when Ravi Rampaul was given the Nayi Soch award for getting Suresh Raina out with a bouncer, and fast bowlers around the world were seen laughing their backsides off.

O for Old warhorses: T20 is for youngsters, they say. But there are always a few oldies who give the younger ones a run for their money. Dravid, Hussey and Hodge are the prominent ones who shone. Mahmood and Gilchrist disappointed early on, but came into their own at the back-end, with Gilly providing one of the most memorable moments of the IPL at the picturesque Dharamsala. Many other seniors, though, had a tough time. ‘Pondulkar’, a fantasy type opening pair, failed miserably. Others like Jayawardene and Sanga even gave up their place in their teams. Kallis was horrible with the bat.

P for Pune Warriors India: They displayed again that their performances in the last two seasons were not flukes. They broke their own record for most consecutive losses. Nothing went right for their team. They used 3 captains, almost 25 players, but still could win only 4 matches.

Q for Quality of Cricket: The quality of cricket was top class. The likes of James Faulkner and Dale Steyn ensured that this was the first season where bowlers were in the game as much as the batsmen. But the batsmen then came into their own in the second half of the league and made sure the crowds were not deprived of high scores.

R for Rohit Sharma: Say what you want about Rohit Sharma, but when it comes to the IPL, he’s a superstar. This time, he was made the captain of a team containing people like Sachin, Ponting and Bhajji. And he led them with prowess, also ending up as the top scorer for his team, and winning the IPL for the second time. But yes, now that IPL is over, so should be our expectations from him.

S for Sir Ravindra Jadeja: The Sir Jadeja phenomenon continued to rise throughout the league. His own performances were pretty good, if not extremely terrific. And the fact that he moved the ground back by 10 inches to convert RP Singh’s legal delivery into a no-ball is now stuff of popular folklore. If you give Sir Jadeja 2 runs to win off 1 ball, he will win it with a ball to spare.

T for Towel: Who would have thought that this humble piece of absorbent cloth would make headlines in the IPL? Sreesanth tucked in a towel and went on to give 14 runs in the over. Players in Chennai were then afraid to use towels even though they played in heavy humidity and Chris Morris had to use 4 jerseys for a single game.

U for Umpiring: The standard of umpiring in the IPL, to put it politely, was awful. The number of wrong LBW decisions were about 786, balls were called wide even after brushing the pad and then Asad Rauf was rushed to Pakistan after it was claimed he received gifts from Vindoo Dara Singh.

V for Vacation: Paid vacations are now a thing. The likes of Ryan Ten Doeschate, Ben Rohrer, Roelof Van der Merwe, Kane Richardson, and Ajantha Mendis had some exotic food, visited the Taj Mahal, attended parties, went sightseeing in the Himalayas, and sometimes took a break to play cricket. But the best deal was offered to Glenn Maxwell, on whom Mumbai spilled half a worth of Ravi Jadeja and who was only disturbed for cricket less than half a dozen times.

W for West Indian Talent: The West Indians continued to light up the IPL as they always have done. Gayle led the batting charts right up to the playoffs. Bravo danced his way to the Orange Cap, contested closely by Sunil Narine. Pollard leapt high and plucked catches out of thin air. Dwayne Smith finally solved Mumbai’s opening problems. And yes, Darren Sammy proved to be someone you could get high on. The were best in batting, bowling, fielding and dancing.

X for X-Factor: Most T20 matches go down to the wire. But only those with nerves of steel win it in the end. There were many exciting matches, thanks to the bookies. CSK proved to be the team which could pull off amazing victories, while RCB snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Y for Yes Bank: DLF Maximum is now a thing of the past. No more does the batsman hit a DLFer or the bowler gets DLFed. It’s “Yes Bank Maximum”. Surely the commentators would have had a hard time getting used to it. But they later decided not to use it at all, and most people in the commentary box used only ‘Maximum’ when a six was hit.

Z for Zoozoos: The Zoozoos were born during IPL 2008, and have only continued to rise in stature. This year, the white creatures with ballooned bodies and eggs for heads also danced to their first ever music video, titled “Zumi Zumi”.

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