IPL6: Finally, it's Mumbai's turn

Now that IPL is over what will BCCI’s president do given that he's the father-in-law of Gurunata and the owner of CSK?

Lately, off the field controversies have stolen the limelight and it seems as if everyone has forgotten about the IPL 6’s final that took place on Sunday. This match was played between two of the strongest sides of the tournament; Chennai versus Mumbai.

There was something peculiar about these two teams playing in the final and Lalit Modi’s suspension in the previous IPL stood witness to that. Though the rowdy crowd at Eden Garden had not forgotten this, it was as crowded and boisterous as ever.

For Chennai Super Kings (CSK) the match itself was nothing new; this was their fifth final appearance in the span of six years. However, this time, the shroud of controversy and pressure surrounded them due to their ‘team principal’ being arrested and this led to detailed interviews regarding fixing/betting charges.

Similarly, Mumbai Indians (MI) have also been in the finals before but this time was different. They were given precedence over other teams and were made the centre of attention.

Although, Mumbai chose to bat first, CSK had an upper hand immediately after the openers departed in a quick fashion. Captain Rohit Sharma could not stick around for too long either. And, with no Sachin or Ponting on their side it was up to Keiron Pollard to lift them to a competitive total of 148 finishing off the innings in style with the last two balls being launched out of the ground. Surely, with MI’s strong bowling unit this was going to be a handful even though CSK are known to bat profoundly.

Chennai’s start was even more disastrous than Mumbai’s with Hussey being bowled by a wonderful Malinga yorker and Raina departing the very next ball. Soon it was three for three. Not even Chennai’s talisman, Dhoni, could stop the rot, though he fought valiantly.

CSK lost by 23 runs resulting in the first IPL title for Mumbai – a well-deserved win considering the amount of money MI spends on their squad each year.

Now that the final is done and dusted, all eyes once again turn towards the off field drama and to BCCI’s president, Srinivasan, to see what his next move is going to be considering he is the owner of CSK and father-in-law of Gurunath, the ‘team principal’ arrested on fixing/betting charges, as well.

A very slippery slope for him to be on and a very exciting end for us!

Oh and before I forget - in other related cricket news, Malik-Akmal-Riaz, the supposedly not good for international cricket but still in team trio, helped Pakistan beat Ireland in a very close finish on the same day.

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