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Ready for another challenge
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24 Apr 2010, 04:14:45 PM
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| Posted by VB Chandrasekar |
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Now that we are in the final, it obviously feels good and like I had mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, my 3-in-one champion did not let me or, for that matter, the Super Kings fans, down.
As usual, I went to the team room for the meeting. One thing for sure, I did not see any nervousness among the players. They were cheerful and everyone contributed to the discussion. After instructions from the team manager, coach Fleming took over. He showed some motivational films that I found exceptional and his chat to tell the players to take the challenge was even more so.
We took the bus to the stadium. It was a long ride and it took us one hour and 15 minutes to reach the ground. I soon settled down to watch the toss. The pitch had a bit of grass and looked a touch more moist. I thought we might need three fast bowlers and two spinners with Murali in there.
The decision to bat first meant that we had to put up a big total. From what we saw from the sidelines, the Chargers appeared were very nervous. Haydos was dropped twice and Raina once. But when we lost wickets early, it looked like Badri, Dhoni and Albie had to give us a competitive score.
The late order dash by Anirudha Srikkanth looked as if the young man had finally realised the potential he has. Two big hits and a score of 142 gave us hope, but we had to bowl well.
As has been the case with Ashwin, he gave us a fine start with the new ball and Bollinger bowled really well. I was quite surprised by the approach taken by the Deccan Chargers who had a slow start chasing a small target and trying to have wickets in hand.
The pitch had something for the bowlers. The ball was holding up a bit and although it was not spinning, it wasn’t a batting deck. The pitch got slower and the batting became more difficult than it was in the first half of the match.
Great bowling by Ashwin, Bollinger and Murali restricted the scoring. Although Jakati went for a few, his two wickets took the stuffing out of the Chargers and we knew were on course to get to the final.
Bowling Bollinger in the 18th over was a masterstroke from Dhoni and he picked up two wickets to seal the game.
After the game, there was a bit of celebration, but we had to hang around for a little longer. I noticed that the players were looking intently at the field as if a match was going on. I realised then that the cheer girls were going through their routine for the final. George Bailey was soon by their side and gave a wonderful performance by way of footwork and hand-body co-ordination.
As I was waiting, my thoughts were still lingering on the match and the unending harassment from the anti-corruption officials. Some of them were police officers who had no clue about the game and they came in without doing any homework on the teams.
Their behaviour was like that of a parking lot attendant, constantly worried about where you park yourself, where you look and how you act. It is about time we bring in people who are trained rather than semi-retired police officials.
I am looking forward to the finals with two more days to go, and certainly happy on one account, that we are part of the Champions League and not part of the play-off to get there.
Two years ago, at the same DY Patil Stadium, we lost the final. This time around, we are up against the Mumbai Indians who have looked like the favourites, especially playing at home. But our team looks set and ready for one more challenge.
On reaching the hotel after the game, I couldn’t stop myself shouting as we entered the lift along with Dhoni and Raina, that I was proud of my team and the selection of players. In three years, we have made the semi-finals thrice and the final twice. The quick response from Mahi was: “Well done, old man!”
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