So we’re into the back seven at the IPL and it has already been a thrilling journey. The crowds have been excellent — passionate, slightly partisan and appreciative. The grounds have looked better and the pitches, with the odd exception, have played pretty true. And franchise owners have been showing a bit of emotion too. The batsmen were expected to be the stars of the tournament, the rich kids with all the toys, but the bowlers have shown, to great delight, that they can hold their own.
I am going to go so far as to say that the bowlers have been the real stars of the tournament. With things stacked against them, they have bowled good lengths, slower balls have been fashionable and effective, a rare case of the two going together, and even the slow, loopy bouncer has made an appearance. The umpires have been a touch lenient in enforcing the one bouncer rule and that has meant the good old-fashioned short-pitched ball is back in use and there is at least one every over. It is not all mindless slogging.
The Rajasthan Royals have been the team to watch and have been the favourites of the analysts. They have played, or have been forced to play, an interesting strategy. While most teams have preferred to play a couple of batting all-rounders, the Royals have been quite happy to go in with just five batsmen. And quite astonishingly, two of them have been given the licence to slog. Both Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan are only going to come off occasionally, given the style they adopt, and that means a lot has been asked of the other three in the top five; Graeme Smith, Shane Watson and Mohd Kaif. It can work both ways. When empowered, players find new strengths within themselves, though on the odd day, the batting can look quite thin.
But Warne’s approach has always been positive and you can see that in the way he has encouraged young Ravindra Jadeja to rediscover himself. Jadeja has been around for a while and we knew him as a spinner who batted down the order and who fielded well. Here, in higher company, he has played as a batsman who really hasn’t needed to bowl and his fielding has been top drawer. I doubt if another captain would have had the courage to do so, for the easier alternative would...
