IPL 2010 – race for the Orange Cap
The 2010 edition of the Indian Premier League is well and truly under way with plenty of the razzmatazz that we have promised since its inception. Whilst some of the more illustrious global stars are competing for their countries, there have still been plenty of shooting stars on display to woo the impressive crowds. Of the overseas stars who have already linked up with their franchises it is a South African and an Englishman who lead the run scoring charts after two fixtures.
Ravi Bopara is getting a head start on his England colleagues ahead of the World T20
Jacques Kallis and Ravi Bopara both played out of their skins yesterday afternoon in an enthralling fixture between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bopara, donning the Orange Cap that denotes who is the leading run scorer in the tournament hit 77 from 50 balls as his side, Kings XI, posted an impressive first innings total of 203.
With Kallis on top form, however, it was Bangalore who took the spoils with the South African hitting 89* from 55 balls. The other notable performance came courtesy of a 19 ball 50 from Robin Uthappa. He hit one Sree Sreesanth over for 25 in the latter part of what turned out to be relatively comfortable chase given the enormity of the task.
The pyrotechnics on display in an enthralling game were far superior to the drab Test in Chittagong, where England agonisingly defeated Bangladesh over five days. For those in the England Test side with IPL deals – namely Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood – it must have been envious eyes that were cast across to India. Bopara and Eoin Morgan competed in an even contest whilst they were forced to grind out a victory against clearly weaker opposition. The thought of going through the same excruciating exercise starting on Saturday can hardly be inspiring, especially as some of their team mates prepare for another round of high octane – and handsomely remunerated – action at the end of the week.
There is also the added bonus for England that some of their players are getting invaluable Twenty20 experience amongst illustrious company ahead of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. If Bopara continues to play as he has thus far in the IPL, he must surely warrant a place at the top of England’s batting order in that tournament.
Whilst I have been critical of Bopara as a Test player, this format is a completely different game. He looked every bit the classy opener for Kings XI yesterday. His 77 took him to the top of the scoring charts but by the end of the game he had to hand over the Orange Cap to Kallis. Bopara has 133 runs so far, Kallis 154. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan are the other players to have reache three figures for the tournament.
Other players in contention, in my book at least, are Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and the first man to reach 1000 IPL runs, Adam Gilchrist. Some of the other big hitters are due to join the tournament, the likes of Pietersen, Shaun Marsh and Brendon McCullum will have some catching up to do and will need to set the IPL alight in order to get their hands on the coveted Orange Cap.
By Miles Reucroft
