Snubbing Dada was a mistake

How topsy turvy the T20 format is, can be seen by the way one of the bottom placed teams beat the top team and that too by a big margin. In limited overs cricket any win by twice the asking rate is a huge win indeed and that's what the Kings XI Punjab achieved. Apart from showing the unpredictability of the format, it also put to rest all talk of momentum and rhythm that is spoken about so freely nowadays.

Today all talk is like in management institutions about areas to bowl, line of attack, doing what is ones control and such like. It is all easy to spout but difficult to implement. Heck, even in businesses these things do not always work but in an unpredictable game like cricket they come unstuck more often than not.

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What Mumbai's defeat also showed is that it is far easier to bat when there is no pressure of asking rate than it is when the first couple of wickets fall and the asking rate climbs into double figures. It is here that a batsman is really tested and it is here that they are found out too.

Mumbai's young batsmen have been brilliant when batting first but when chasing they have struggled not just in this game but even in previous editions of the IPL. Just like a batsman's real exam is when he is batting second, the bowler's is when he is bowling first or defending a small total. It is here that they have to not only choke up the runs but also take wickets which is the best dot ball in the game.

Sourav Ganguly made his much anticipated debut and scored at a run a ball to take his team to a win which gives them an outside chance of qualifying. He has nothing left to prove to anybody except to a few coaches in the IPL and after this knock he will be in an even better frame of mind than when he took the field at Hyderabad.

By his own admission he was short on confidence and he would have been aware that there would be many hoping he would fall on his face but not for nothing is he 'dada' and when he stepped down the pitch and lofted Ishant Sharma over extra cover to the boundary it was a statement that you can't keep a good man down.

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Just like Chris Gayle has shown his omission from the West Indies side was the team's loss and not his, Ganguly has with that one innings shown that it was a mistake to have snubbed him. Even if he does not score a single run in the remaining games it does not matter for he has proved once again the old saying that class is permanent and only myopia and inherent bias prevents others from seeing it.

The Delhi Daredevils are out of contention and with 'Viru' out of action they may well end up bottom of the pile. Franchises have not renewed contracts with players who have not shown good form in the first three editions of the IPL which is perfectly understandable but how about the same criteria for those who over the seasons made little contribution from the sidelines excepting getting their mates cushy jobs?

Professional Management Group