Look beyond the glitz and the glamour — the movie stars, the cheerleaders, their boundary-line woes and their dress-codes; leave aside all the money that has been bandied about; ignore, if possible, Lalit Modi and his million-dollar smile as he hands out fines and bans like visiting cards. Strip the Indian Premier League off the peripherals and find the stories: That great Test batsmen are not all good T20 cricketers; that a touch of genius can turn mediocre talent into giant-killing table-toppers; and that the best bowler in the world today is a 38-year-old who retired from all forms of cricket a little more than a year ago — a bowler who, incidentally, wasn’t picked up in the first round of auctions.

If the IPL is reflective of the talent available in the world today — several top players from almost all teams are part of this 45-day tournament — then Glenn McGrath is proving all over again that he’s in a league of his own.

In a format that weighs in heavily in favour of broad bats and brute force, there have been a few stand-out performers with the ball in hand.

There was the wrong-footed skidder Sohail Tanvir’s exceptional 6-14 (his spell read a surreal 3-0-3-5 at one point) against the Chennai Super Kings. Warne has been exceptional for Jaipur, but his leg-spinners, googlies and flippers have played a smaller role in the Rajasthan Royals success than his sheer genius as captain. Shaun Pollock has proved thrifty in bits for Mumbai, while MS Gony has provided pleasant surprises for Chennai. None has matched McGrath for consistency though.

... contd.