The special IPL pattern

This is needless to be said the third edition of the Indian Premier League and is more than enough to draw some pattern regarding the winners and losers of the trophy. So has been the case regarding the teams that make it to the semis and also the teams which top the ratings in every edition of the same. In its inaugural edition, the winners happened to be the Rajasthan Royals while the runners up happened to be the Chennai Superkings. And the teams that finished last were the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers who finished at positions 8 and 7 respectively.

But, much to everyone's surprise, it was the same two teams that finished in the last two positions a year prior to the second edition of the IPL who ended as winners of the trophy and the runners up. Had the winners been the Royal Challengers and the runners up been the Deccan Chargers, that would have been just ideal for the team which finished last would have finished first in the second edition while the team that finished second from the last would have ended second from the top. Anyways, that is secondary at the moment. But, one would be surprised with the pattern that the IPL is found following.

It was the Mumbai Indians who finished second from the last in the second edition held at South Africa and the last position was booked long before by the Kolkata Knight Riders. But, this time, if history is anywhere to go by it has been the Mumbai Indians who are found dominating the tournament like the Deccan Chargers did in the previous edition. And, the Kolkata Knight Riders are though following slowly. they have no reason for not to do what the Royal Challengers were found doing in the second edition. Even the RCBs started their IPL campaign without any sort of initial success as long as the team was captained by KP.

It was only after Anil Kumble was made the captain that the RCBs started rocking and eventually reached the finals though there were the Delhi Daredevils who were a better team than both the RCBs and the Deccan Chargers. So, if the pattern is to be followed, it has to be Mumbai Indians beating the Kolkata Knight Riders to lift the trophy. And, if the present edition of the IPL is considered, the Kings XI Punjab are found holding onto the last position and the second from the last is held by Deccan Chargers once again after they lost it to the KKR last year. So, one can expect the KXIP team to lift the trophy next year by beating Deccan Chargers if the pattern is followed.

However, decent teams compared to the KKR have been the RCBs. But, even there were DD who topped the charts last year and their fate is well in front of us.

Why Brett Lee cites the IPL and not the NZ tour?

Well one has to feel happy that the Australian speedster Brett Lee has promised to be fit for the upcoming third edition of the Indian Premier League. I take your pardon- Brett Lee hopes to be completely fit for the upcoming IPL. This has to be a good news for cricket fans in India who would be looking forward to see him in action in the cash rich and entertainment rich tournament. More happier people would be the Kings XI Punjab who have already taken a blow when Yuvraj Singh was sacked as the captain and replaced by Kumara Sangakkara.

Anyways, that might not be an issue as far as the fans of Kings XI Punjab players or fans are considered and likewise, even Sangakkara has not been a bad captain for Sri Lanka. And the happiest man to be fit for the IPL would be Brett Lee himself, failing which he would also compromise with the payment he is bound to receive in case he opts out of the tournament. Needless to be said, Brett Lee was last found playing international cricket for Australia way back in October in the 7 match one day series against India last year in the 1^st ODI at Vadodara.

There itself, Brett Lee had given a hint that he would not be fit for the next one dayer and since then has never been for for any international matches. Moreover, Brett Lee has made news for the wrong reasons when he retired from test cricket recently. However, when it comes to big tournaments like the world T20 and the cash rich IPL, any lazy bugger has to get up and come out shouting that he is fit irrespective of whether he is fit or not and Brett Lee is no exception. So has been the case with players like Sreesanth, Muralitharan to name a few who have given a fitness certificate about themselves when it mattered in the IPL and were nowhere in the scene when it came to playing international matches for their country.

Whatever, one thing that is to be noticed is that there is an ongoing one day series between Australia and New Zealand and will go on as scheduled until the 31^st of this month, which would be more than 2 weeks after the IPl would have kicked in. But Brett Lee has neither been figured in the squad that played the 2 T20 games and also for the one day series that follows. And nothing needs to be cited specially regarding the 2 match test series that follows. Brett Lee was least bothered about the aforementioned tournaments and now comes shouting that he can play in the IPL. I wish Symonds should learn from Brett Lee how to handle such a situation.