Well the second edition of the Indian Premier League has witnessed a lot of twists and turns not only on the field but also off the field as well. For, most of the teams that ended at the bottom of the points table in the first edition in 2008 went in for a change in captain. The list includes the Royal Challengers Bangalore-who changed their captain from Rahul Dravid to Kevin Pietersen and now the inevitable choice being Anil Kumble. Then comes the Kolkata Knight Riders whose captaincy was handed over to New Zealand's Brendon McCullum. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the Deccan Chargers having Gilchrist as captain instead of VVS Laxman.
For that matter, even Sachin Tendulkar is not found doing a good job for his team as a captain despite some decent wins this season. It looked as though Brendon McCullum was still in his player mood and not in the captaincy one as it was witnessed in the match against the Kings XI Punjab. Four drop catches at a crucial stage in that match never moved the KKR captain whatsoever. This just showed that the degree of aggressiveness of McCullum was nothing greater zero. The Kolkata Knight Riders once again showed as to why they deserve to be at the bottom of the points table.
If not for the last over that fetched 22 runs for the KKR, none of the other bats if not for Brad Hodge really showed some momentum. I wonder as to whether it was really McCullum who scored the highest individual score of the tournament in the firt edition where he scored an unbeaten 158 off 73 balls which stands unbroken even today? As I always keep on mentioning, the batsmen have to go in for some risky shots when the situation demands. There was no point in preserving wickets when the game hardly lasts 20 overs. The Kolkata Knight Riders lost just three wickets if one goes by the scoreboard.
A big hitter like McCullum to have consumed 31 precious deliveries to score 19 runs showed the lack of motivation by the skipper himself. Keeping this fact in mind, one can draw a conclusion regarding the motivation that the remaining players can bring in. Big hitters like Ajith Agarkar, Laxmi Ratan Sukla and Saha never got a chance to get into the crease owing to the spoilsport played by the rest. I wonder as to what made the KKR to have 7 wickets in hand when 20 overs were fast approaching?the KKR innings saw just three sixes. Anyway, it is not the number of sixes that is the difference between a win and a loss.
But, a sense of selfishness can be found in the Kolkata Knight Riders who never want to take a risk that could add a lot more to the total. The KKR batsmen just wanted to maintain their individual average by staying in the crease. For that matter, the bowlers did a fair job by bringing the Kings XI Punjab innings until the last ball. However, fielding department is once again to be blamed for this mishap. Better luck in the next tournament KKR.
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