IPL 2008, Team management, the Royal Treat

 

Team Management Win’s it all!

 

Being a true Mumbaite, there are only two things that I greedily crave for. One is Vada Pav and the other is the pulse racing game of Cricket.

 

About 7 weeks ago, I became a great fan of Mr. Lalit Modi who gifted all of us a fantastic product (though said to be ripped off from the Football leagues – Who cares?), the IPL – Indian Premiere League.

 

A product wherein you get the best from every nation.

 

It’s like having a Macintosh design (Beautifully packed) on a IBM machine (Brand sells) with windows OS (Love it or hate it… but you can’t ignore it – Everyone owns it)

 

The IPL brought in adrenaline rushing pulsating anticipation and anxiety to the young and senior players of Cricket as much as it did for the “dumb / struck” audience watching one of the best marketing practices sold right at their face.

 

And the best part is… the majority bought it and why wouldn’t we? It was a fantastic product with amazingly surprising ingredients, fresh recipe with a dash of rules being cooked in a cauldron of magical glamour.

 

It had it all and today at the DY Patil stadium at Navi Mumbai where the Underdogs finally did it and Rajasthan Royals bathed in pure glory.

 

They did it on the grandest stage of them all and with panache and flair. Raw overdue talent like Yusuf Pathan and Tanvir, fabulous findings like Asnodkar and pure all round skill like Shane Watson with the legend like backing and faith of Shane Warne, the match ended gloriously.

 

As the Chennai Super Kings skipper and his team gave a fabulous fight till the last ball was bowled, the Rajasthan Royals devoured the final ball for the ultimate prize of Glory and of course around 4.8 Crores Rupees.

 

But everyone loved it and the way the Royals had played it throughout, even the Chennai skipper wouldn’t have ‘minded it’ this time.

 

It was a great blow to all those who did not believe and kept saying with utmost faith that the underdogs will remain underdogs as they finally watched the most economical team biting the biggest chunk of them all, the biggest prize of them all the worlds most expensive Trophy – The IPL trophy.

 

More important than the combination of all sorts of skill levels was the beauty to see Muralidharan happy on Jayasurya’s wicket, Sachin rejoicing at Dhoni’s dismissal, Sourav hugging Shoaib and the Aussie Watson as glad with hitting Symond’s ball like never seen before, was that it brought in a lot of team spirit and a never give up attitude amongst all who played and to many who even just watched.

 

It was a great lesson from Shane Warne’s team that, it is not as important to have the best in the team as it is to give your best to the team.

 

I would like to end it with just a simple kudos for the legendary performance by the retired Skipper Shane Warne for his team management and to the whole Rajasthan Royals for the consistent performance by adding so much zest and energy to the spirit of the game.

 

Three cheers to the fact and power behind ‘Team Management’ and a Huge Hurray to Mr.Modi, Mr. Warne and the Rajasthan Royals.

 

IPL rocked!!!

 

Be well

 

Ananth V

 

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