Mumbai Indians rock and roll

The Desert Odyssey in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday night turned out to be a fairytale ending for Mumbai Indians as the side led by Rohit Sharma showed energy, intent and pedigree to win the Indian Premier League.

The Dubai Stadium, which would have been bursting at the seams had it not been for the crowd restriction due to the Covid-19 restrictions, was virtually empty. Of course, the team owners of Mumbai Indians and select, privileged fans, led by owner Nita Ambani were there to cheer the champion side.

Champions, yes, for the umpteenth time as they had won the title last year as well when it was held in India.

As a contest which one expected to be a classic,  it turned out as flat as soda without fizz. Call it the big stage pressure or the fact that Mumbai Indians  had been in dominating mode and mood throughout the tournament, spread well over 50 days, in hot and humid conditions and played in the bio bubble, Mumbai Indians deserved this trophy.

Sport can be kind as well as cruel. If Mumbai Indians were all smiles, Delhi Capitals, finalists for the first time, could take solace from the fact they tried well in the IPL this time. But then, in sport, as in life, everyone loves the winner and not the runner-up.

If there was a school-like report card, the remarks for Delhi Capitals would have been “can do better.” To be sure, one cannot be too harsh on Delhi Capitals despite the palpable disappointment that they did not manage to bring out their best game in the final.

Mumbai Indians had performers in plenty on Tuesday night, what with Trent Boult, the  devastating fast bowler, showing his skills once again. The total of 156 which Delhi Capitals put  on board was simply inadequate. The men who were responsible for even these many runs were skipper Shreyas Iyer (65) and a young man who managed to redeem his image at the last minute, Rishabh Pant (56).

In a tournament where Mumbai Indians have featured in big chases as well as setting challenging scores and then throttling the rival team with their quality bowling attack, they won with minimum fuss.

Apart from skipper Rohit Sharma, who once again hammered a half ton, the stand-out batting performances came from Ishan Kishan and of course Suryakumar Yadav, both uncapped players who proved their  mettle repeatedly this season for the champion side.

Going by the social media posts from Delhi Capitals owners’ they are not devastated by the loss in the final. The team picked itself up well and what remains to be seen is how much more they can consolidate for the next season in 2021.

All of a sudden, it seems as if the next IPL, hopefully will be in India.

For all those praising BCCI bosses Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah to ensure the IPL happened in a bio bubble, there is a bigger message. IPL is cricket plus commerce and the Dream 11 IPL was a success. The same men need to show the same intent for domestic cricket which feeds the lesser players and provides the talent base for the IPL.

Last but not the least, the hosts, United Arab Emirates, showed the desert venues of Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi did well to host the big show, bang in the middle of the Corona virus pandemic.