IPL’s big-bash quotient

IPL benefits from Aussie players, and the reverse is also true. Shane Watson is the prime example, with the 2008 edition reviving his career.

On Monday afternoon, a handful who had gathered at the members’ corridor of the CCI witnessed a sight that made them cringe. For, it was one that Indians in general had gotten sick and tired of for close to three months – Steve Smith with a bat in hand. And true to form, he was busy hitting and swatting cricket balls to distant corners of the Brabourne Stadium in that inimitable fashion, while constantly contorting and convoluting his lithe body.

He was after all the indefatigable villain-in-the-piece every time the Indian team came even close to eying glory during their tour Down Under – whether it was in the Test series or the World Cup semifinal. And it was only apt that the boundary in the final that took the men from Down Under back to being ‘Awe’stralia came off his bat.

They couldn’t have scripted it better-Australia’s golden boy making the final play of their golden summer. At CCI, Smith was tuning up to extend that golden summer for a month-and-a-half more and turn India’s Tyohar — as the broadcasters want us to believe — to another rendition of that famous anthem, C’mon Aussie C’mon. Just like a bunch of his compatriots are elsewhere in the country. It’s IPL time, and the Aussies are back to make an impact, this time with their indomitable aura back in place.

Australia were the top-dogs, and they ruled the cricket world with ruthless disdain from their perch when the IPL first came into being seven years ago. But in the period leading up to the eighth edition of the T20 extravaganza, their cricket has undergone a dramatic upheaval. A seven-year itch where where they lost as often as they won, their players were pulled up for failing to do their home-work, and they were often second-best to England. But regardless, every year, without fail, a bunch from the land Down Under would turn up donning the colours of their respective franchises and have a telling influence on the IPL. And once here, they haven’t just been Men at Work but on a mission.

Just look at the numbers. An Australian has won the man-of-the-match award in one out of five IPL matches of all time-this despite only four foreigners being allowed in each XI. One-fifth of the overall runs-1,30,587 in all-scored in IPL history have come off Aussie bats. And when they haven’t been scoring runs and taking wickets, they have been busy scripting the success stories of the showpiece event.
If it wasn’t Shane Warne scripting a underdog fairytale with a rag-tag outfit in the first season, it was Adam Gilchrist orchestrating a dramatic turnaround for a team that was routed in their maiden outing. Last year, George Bailey took a formerly unheralded Kings XI Punjab unit and turned them into a rampant opposition-hounding outfit. Even if he couldn’t quite pronounce their team slogan. They don’t really say ‘Panga na le’ much in Tasmania. The year before that, Ricky Ponting dropped himself as captain and mentored Mumbai Indians to IPL glory.

Behind the scenes
It’s not just the Aussies on the field who have impacted the tournament. Long before he coached his country to their fifth World Cup crown, Darren Lehmann made his first impact from the dugout by guiding Deccan Chargers to the IPL title in South Africa back in 2009. And Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions, have won their titles under Trevor Bayliss.

Overall 11 Australians have held the reins during the seven seasons of the IPL. Those do not just include the creme de la creme-the likes of Warne and Gilchrist-of cricketing aristocracy from the land of the world champions. Whenever a franchise hasn’t had luck with an Indian at the helm, their first choice for replacement has been an Aussie, regardless of reputation or credence. Be it Aaron Finch at Pune or James Hopes at Delhi. There’s been an Australian captain for every season of the IPL. This time, we’ll see three at the helm, including first-timer David Warner at Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The IPL was touted as the platform where talent meets opportunity. So far, that catchphrase seems to have been written for Australia with Shane Watson its epitome. If he rediscovered his mojo in Rajasthan colours, the IPL also has proved a discovery channel for the present-day heroes of Australian cricket, from Glenn Maxwell, Ryan Harris and Shaun Marsh.

The IPL though has not only given birth to a number of rising stars from Down Under, it has also breathed second life for a number of those at the fag end of their careers. For every Marsh, there has been an Gilchrist or Hayden, for every Maxwell a Symonds, for every Harris a McGrath.

So will IPL VIII be the harbinger for a Travis Head or Ben Cutting? Or a sweet farewell for Michael Hussey and Brad Hogg?

Source:: Indian Express