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There will be some who will suggest a best-of-three finals too, but with the tournament being played over two months to stretch it by almost another week may not be preferred by the players themselves.

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This year’s IPL has been truly memorable and has seen some spectacular displays with both bat and ball and while fielding too. There have been scorching centuries hit and game-turning five-wicket hauls captured and catches taken that have left all those watching gobsmacked.

This tournament has more than ever shown that often it’s the unheralded Indian talent that has made the difference while most of the expensive players have seldom if ever, earned their high wages throughout the history of the tournament. These players perform sporadically, but only a few perform when their team actually need them to do so. Maybe, it’s the pressure of expectations after the big price tag that hampers their natural game.

When the next auction comes along, the salary cap for the franchises will increase and we could see some crazy buys mostly advised by the computer guys and not the cricket guys.

Teams would do well to look at fresh talent whether it’s the coaching staff or players, even as some experienced hands are retained to guide the youngsters. Many players get retained on the basis of one performance out of a dozen or so matches and that has to be looked at too.

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There must be an openness to look at the performers in the Ranji Trophy too and not just the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare tournaments. The Ranji batters are better equipped than the sloggers in the domestic white-ball tournaments. The sloggers are usually playing second rate bowlers on small grounds. When it comes to the IPL where the bowling and fielding is of a better quality and standard, they are quickly found out as also the bowlers who take wickets on sub-standard pitches. This is where having an Indian who has watched domestic cricket as assistant coach will pay dividends. He will be in a better position to guide an overseas coach who has not seen the domestic player and who will struggle to remember their names for at least the first week to 10 days of the tournament.

The four Playoffs teams had Indian captains who were strong in their self-confidence and so took most, if not all the calls as far as team selection and strategy was concerned even though they may have had an overseas coach. That Gujarat Titans have Ashish Nehra and Hardik Pandya as the decision-makers is the reason somebody like a Mohit Sharma can still make a telling contribution where at other franchises he would not even have been considered and thought of as a spent force.   

Whatever. It truly has been an Incredible Premier League.

Professional Management Group