No one gets knocked out in the IPL league stage so why dilute efforts of both teams who have worked up to a fascinating status quo, by having a Super Over?
Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant celebrates with teammates as Delhi Capitals get into the Super Over in Game 2 of the Indian Premier League-13 against Kings XI Punjab at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium last Sunday. Pic/BCCI/IPL
Super Over," the television commentators stressed in a flash.
Kings XI Punjab's No. 8 Chris Jordan had just tapped one from Delhi Capitals' Marcus Stoinis straight into the hands of Kagiso Rabada at square leg, in the closing stages of Game 2 of the Indian Premier League in Dubai.
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Yes, the excited microphone men were right. But I sat there wondering whatever happened to that great addition to Win, Loss and Draw which cricket has given us. Why is the Tied result being killed in this T20 tamasha? Sure, this is a result-oriented world, but isn't there a mention of League in this tournament?
No one gets knocked out in the league stage so why dilute the efforts of both teams who have worked their way to a fascinating status quo by having a Super Over?
It's not that the tournament was being decided on Sunday, so there is no harm for teams to share points with a tie. Ultimately, Delhi Capitals won the Super Over and the climax was nowhere near the excitement which enveloped our living rooms when Australian star Stoinis ran in to bowl the final delivery of his side's 20th over. So much for the thrill aspect of this tournament and the irony of it all was that the man (Mayank Agarwal) who got Kings XI Punjab close to victory didn't even come out to be part of the Super Over.
To merely say Agarwal played a fine innings would be the understatement of IPL-13.
Thirteen to win off the last over was absolutely doable and a dash of certainty was added with him carting Stoinis for a six over long off, followed by two and a four which Mohit Sharma failed to stop on the boundary line. With the scores tied, all Agarwal had to do was place the ball between fielders by playing normal cricket. A lot of kudos is sprayed for the big shots but it seems the placement factor is not given the importance it deserves in limited overs cricket.
Agarwal probably forgot that mode existed and went for the big shot only to be caught at sweeper cover by Guyanese Shimron Hetmyer, who the commentators said was the only man near the ropes.
It all looks easy from the lounge room but clearly, Agarwal had thrown it away and Stoinis had good reason to believe that his full toss was a masterstroke. Nevertheless, Agarwal's 89 must find a place in the forget-me-not category. The Karnataka man is such an immaculate timer of the ball and if he continues in the same vein, his IPL batting average will be far better than the 19.35 before today's clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai.
Back to my problem with the Super Over. Apart from the fact that it can turn into an anti-climax like it did on Sunday night, it also extends the duration of the tie (pun intended). Unless it's a knockout game where a clear result is imperative, the authorities would do well to think about how long the game goes on for. After all, this is the shortest form of international cricket and going beyond 40 overs creates an irony for instant cricket.
Anything forced or overly contrived is no good. The Strategic Time Out is another element that only keeps the broadcasters happy. It adds no value to the viewer.
The Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Capitals game will also be remembered for the line call made by umpire Nitin Menon. Although television replays showed that Jordan had grounded his bat inside the crease, a small possibility of the umpire being right shouldn't be ruled out.
The Kings XI Punjab camp wondered why technology couldn't be used, but as ESPN Cricinfo's Nagraj Gollapudi pointed out, "as per the playing conditions of both the ICC and the IPL, the umpire can use the assistance of third umpire only in cases of a possible dismissal or an unclear boundary decision. So there was no way under the rules that the on-field umpire could have sought the third umpire's inputs. The third umpire can't get into the game without being asked for by the on-field umpires or a player using a DRS review. The only exception to this is the no-ball calls, which he used to keep an eye on in cases of dismissals before he was mandated to check every delivery for overstepping."
If at all Menon's vision of Jordan's bat failed him, Kings XI Punjab are right to feel hard done by, but if they look at the larger picture, they didn't score a run off three opportunities.
The franchise's CEO Satish Menon went on to say that the loss could cost them a place in the play-offs.
Co-owner and Bollywood actress Preity Zinta indicated in a tweet that umpire Menon's call hurt more than the quarantine process she underwent to be in The Gulf for the tournament.
Well, the teams may be better off telling the IPL Governing Council to consider doing away with the Super Over in the league phase and let the points be shared with a Tied result. That will not only cause less heartache to the loser, but also go a long way in restoring the tradition of the game and not making it look like a mini-lottery in the league stage.
mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper
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