IPL 2019: Is this the season of veterans?
The biggest cricketing fest in the world is back and we are already into the second week of the tournament. The ball is going out of the park, wickets are tumbling and fans are cheering for their favourite teams.
Although T-20s used to be touted as the format for youngsters in the past, players like Mike Hussey, Matthew Hayden, Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar went on to prove that age is not the benchmark to play and succeed in this format. If a veteran player has the ability and skill to play in such a format, success is almost guaranteed for him.
IPL 2019 is turning out to be very interesting in those regards. The old warhorses of the game are hogging most of the limelight, and it is the experience which is outshining the youth till now in the league. Could this be the case whole tournament? Could this turn out to be the season of veterans?
It started from the very first match of the tournament with veterans like Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir bamboozling the mighty batting line-up of RCB. Since then, veteran superstars like Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Shane Watson, Chris Gayle and AB De Villers are taking over the league in their own style.
Harbhajan Singh, Chris Gayle and Shane Watson even got the Man of the Match award for their respective franchises. Yuvraj Singh was the top scorer for the Mumbai Indians against his old franchise Delhi Capitals and smashed his first IPL fifty in almost two years.
There is no denying the fact that young starlets like Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson are also successfully creating an impact in the tournament. However, in most of the matches played till now, veterans have had the more say over the match results.
There is no substitute for experience and it was once again proved right in the fiercest battle of tournament till now. It was a match between the two IPL giants, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
While in the first innings, vintage Yuvraj Singh once again turned back the clock by hitting leggie Yuzvendra Chahal for three consecutive sixes, it was AB de Villiers show in the second innings, albeit in a losing cause. He hit the bowlers all around the park and almost took his team over the line. However, it was another veteran in the form of Lasith Malinga who proved to be a roadblock for AB’s juggernaut. Malinga was expensive on the night, but he redeemed himself by winning the match for Mumbai Indians in the last over.
These performances of the veterans could be the great learning lesson to the youngsters around as they can learn from these veterans that there is no short cut to the experience and it could only be earned with time and dedication.
These superstars are the true ambassadors of the game and their performance will only elevate the level of the competition. Meanwhile, fans around the globe would be thrilled to see their favourites performing in such a competitive league. If this season turns out to be the season of the veterans, no one will ever complain.