Kane Williamson's path to IPL recognition
Few sports have captains playing massive roles in the outcome of a game as cricket does. Captains have been blamed for tactical slip-ups costing his/her team the match, and have gained demi-god status for sheer brilliance, snatching endless wins from the jaws of defeat.
However, as the game switched from timeless classics to truncated epics, the role of the captain, or the strategies governing the result of the game, began to somewhat lose the limelight that the Mike Brearleys and Imran Khans once commanded. And with the advent of T20 cricket, games came to be determined by singular strokes of genius.
The IPL final was no different. Shane Watson blew all competition out of the water with his century. CSK won what seemed to be an umpteenth final, and MS Dhoni was yet again hailed for leading this 'dad's army' to an IPL win. But Dhoni wasn't the only captain who had employed fantastic tactics through the tournament.
Prior to the tournament, Sunrisers Hyderabad were being seen as capable of repeating their 2016 heroics. But when David Warner was forced to pull out due to the events in South Africa, Sunrisers suddenly found themselves forced to find an inspiring captain and a veritable run machine all in one, such was Warner's value in the side.
Appointing Williamson raised some eyebrows, but it was largely seen as a logical replacement, one that would cause the least shuffling to look like a largely settled lineup on paper after the auctions. It was slightly ironic seeing Williamson becoming captain, when his place in the side was insured only this season.
But then Hyderabad starting churning out performance after performance. 118 was defended, 132 was defended. 214 was almost chased down. And while the much-lauded bowling lineup was coming through, Williamson turned the batting around, almost single-handedly. By the time the final came about he had 11 fifty plus scores in 32 IPL matches, which, considering half of those 32 matches were played on the slow Hyderabad pitches, is outstanding. But the moment to trump them all came in the eliminator against KKR.
Chasing 175, KKR suddenly looked like they were batting with toothpicks as they slumped to 108-5, with Rashid Khan in the fullest of flows, having scored a 10 ball 34, taking 2 wickets and effecting a run-out. Andre Russell came out to bat and looked a little circumspect against Rashid - Williamson brought Deepak Hooda in to short fine leg, along with Shikhar Dhawan at slip.
For a batsman who had been striking at 184 throughout the tournament, these two close-in fielders were a play on the ego. Rashid floated the very next ball outside off, Russell slashed and found himself caught in the slips. KKR were 118-6 and went on to lose by 14 runs.
Throughout the tournament, Williamson kept reiterating why New Zealand thought him fit enough to assume the captaincy at 25. His excellent shuffling of the considerable bowling resources at his disposal caught everyone's eye, so much so that commentators were placing him right up there with Dhoni for his captaincy. In the flash-bang era of the Kohlis, Du Plessis and Finches, Williamson's sobriety is finally telling, and if there weren't enough people sitting up and taking notice, there are now.