The second edition of the IPL made the experts feel like fools.Whop would have thought that
two teams who were down at the bottom of the table last year would contest the finals.And fittingly,last year’s last placed team,the Deccan Chargers won a pulsating contest to claim the IPL trophy.There were speculations regarding the success of the event once shifted to South Africa but all those proved to be mere speculations and nothing else.What we witnessed was some really great cricket.Here at Three2Tango,we try to find out the highs and lows of IPL2

The most noteworthy fact was indeed the two last placed teams reaching the finals and the last placed team of last year winning.Kudos to Adam Gilchrist and his men for turning it around.Lets analyze each team’ performance

Deccan Chargers:
The heroes for the Deccan Chargers.
Adam Gilchrist: Leading from the front,Gilchrist perhaps played the best innings of the IPL when he hit that 85 of 35 balls to upset the ambitions of the Delhi Daredevils in the semi finals.In most of the games that Deccan won,Gilchrist provided the start and the opposition never seemed to recover from his onslaught.
Rohit Sharma:A class act,Rohit Sharma is a man for the future.His bowling came in handy as well.The composure he showed when he hit those 26 runs of the last over to win the tie against Kolkatta shows that that he does have a really cool head on his shoulders.Rightly voted as under 23 player of the tournament.
R P Singh: RP earned the purple cap by becoming the highest wicket taker.Down with injury,he was never expected to perform well.
Dwayne Smith: He was perhaps unlucky not to make to the playing X1 in the semi finals and the finals,but played exceptionally well in the games he got a chance.His fielding was also simply great.Really hope that the Windies give him an extended run.
Symonds,Edwards,Suman,Ojha all played great to make the Deccan Chargers’ dream come true.
Disappointment:
VenuGopala Rao: Much was expected from this Hyderabadi but he proved to be a disappointment.Deccan lost some really close encounters owing to the inability of the
middle order to finish off the game
VVS Laxman: Perhaps its not his game after all.

Place in IPL 1: 8 Place in IPL2 : 1

Bangalore Royal Challengers
The Royal Challengers turned it around under Kimble’s leadership to reach the finals.When
Pieter sen left,Bangalore was second from last in the table,but once Kumble took over the
reins from KP,Bangalore played some really good cricket.
Heroes:
Anil Kumble:Captain fantastic.He took 2 5-wicket hauls.His decision to bring himself on art
he start of the innings against Gilchrist in the finals will go down in history as one of those boldest moves.
Manish Pandey: Came out of no where and cracked the first century ever by an Indian in the IPL.He showed his class in the semi finals as well.
Ross Taylor: Didn’t start of well,but played crucial knocks towards the end.His 87 from 30
odd balls was a great innings.
Disappointment:
Kevin Pietersen:The highest payed player in the IPL was disappointing as captain and player.Hope he does better next time.
Jesse Ryder: He was in prime form coming into the IPL but dint play even one noteworthy
innings.

Place in IPL 1: 7 Place in IPL 2: 2

Chennai SuperKings
Heroes:
Matthew Hayden: The orange cap winner,Hayden simply tore apart bowling attacks.
Muralitharan:The South African pitches assisted the spinners and the smiling assassin was
almost unplayable in many games.
Raina: Played some really great innings and provided a much needed stability to the Super
King’s middle order.Unlucky to miss out on a century.
Disappointment:
Dhoni: The India captain failed ti lead his team from the front.He could have played his
natural game.
Manpreet Gony: He was last years’ hero for the Super Kings but was wayward this season.
Albie Morkel: Much was expected from him after his performance in last year’s IPL but did
not quite fire.

Place in IPL 1: 2 Place in IPL2: 3-4

Delhi Daredevils:
They were the favorites to win the tournament,but were unlucky to miss out the finals,due to that rampaging innings from Gilchrist in the semi finals.
Heroes:
Dilshan: The Sri Lankan was at his best throughout the tournament
AB Devilliers: Both Dilshan and de Villers were in great form coming into the tournament and didn’t disappoint at all.AB made up for his lackluster performance last year.The century he cracked against Chennai was a really brilliant innings.
Dirk Nannes:This Australian who was unheard of before the IPL was a revelation. Even Mcgrath did not get a match because of his performance.
Disappointments:
Sehwag: All those Sehwag fans who wanted to see him taking on the bowlers went home
disappointed.

Place in IPL 1: 3-4 Place in IPL2: 3-4

Punjab Kings X1
They missed a lot of their players from last year and unable to fill in the gaps
Heroes:
Yuvraj Singh:
Was not really at his best but still ended up as the highest scorer for Punjab.He made up
for this by his bowling including 2 hat ricks.
Mahela Jayawardena:
This classy Sri Lankan was the best batsman for the Kings X1.
YuSuf AbDulla:
The South African was a contender for the purple cap and might have earned it if he had not lost his place to Brett Lee.
Disappointments:
The younger players in the team didn’t quite live up to expectations.

Rajasthan Royals:
The champions could not live upto the expectations.
Heroes:
Kamran Khan: This 19 year old was brilliant in the games he played.Unlucky to miss out
because of the suspect action.
Disappointment:
Greame Smith: The SA captain was not at his best through out and was a prime cause of his team’s failure because of opening partnership’s failure.

Place in IPL1: 1 Place in IPL2 : 6

Mumbai Indians:
Heroes:
Lasith Malinga:Batsmen found his round arm action was impossible to get away.An economy rate of 6.3 in 20-20 is simply outstanding.
J P Duminy:
Duminy lived up to the big price tag.Consistent performance throughout the tournament.
Disappointments:
Jayasuriya:
The explosive Sri Lankan opener failed to fire.

Place in IPL 1: 5 Place in IPL2: 7

Kolkata Knight Riders:
The team was a complete failure
Heroes:
Brad Hodge
Perhaps the only bright aspect for the Knight Riders was Brad Hodge.He was consistent with both bat and ball.
Disappointments:
McCullum:
The explosive Kiwi was out of sorts for most of the tournament.The captaincy burden seemed to have been a little too much for him to handle.
The team:
The team as a whole did not gel together and failed to finish off matches.

Place in IPL 1: 6 Place in IPL2: 8

So we are ready to build our dream team of IPL2

This is three2tango’s dream team:

Openers:

• Matthew Hayden
• Adam Gilchrist(wk and captain)

Middle Order

• AB Devilliers
• Tillakaratne Dilshan
• Suresh Raina
• Rohit Sharma

Spinners

• Mutthai Muralitharan
• Pragyan Ojha

Fast Bowlers

• RP Singh
• Lasith Malinga
• Dirk Nannes

Having made the dream Team,we also felt that an Indian dream team from the IPL should also be listed.

Openers:

• Manish Pandey
• Sunny Sohal

Both Sehwag and Gambhir misses out as they were not quite at their best

Middle Order:

• Suresh Raina
• Rohit Sharma
• Yusuf Pathan

Wicket Keeper:

• Dinesh Karthik

Spinners:

• Anil Kumble(Captain)
• Pragyan Ojha

Fast Bowlers:

• RP Singh
• Ashish Nehra
• Kamran Khan

IPL2 best moments in pics

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