The Indian Premier League IPL is the richest tournament in the world of cricket. It is a hotly contested event and each team can field four foreign players. It's a money spinner with some of the cricketers being paid astronomical amounts. This year the final took place at Hyderabad and the contestants were Mumbai Indians led by Rohit Sharma with Pune Supergiants led by the Australian Steve Smith. Mumbai Indians won the match by one run. At one time it looked that Mumbai team would lose as they had posted only 129 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
It was a paltry score and the Pune team which had Mahendra Singh Dhoni in its ranks was expected to win easily. The match was covered live by Star Sports for a global audience.
The match
The Hyderabad match began with the Mumbai team winning the toss and Rohit Sharma electing to bat. The team made heavy weather though the wicket was not bad. They mustered just 129 runs and the Pune team had just to score to win the championship. It looked an easy enough task and Steve Smith set the scoreboard ticking with an innings of 51. Unfortunately, his score was not enough and very soon the Pune team was in trouble. It still looked easy and with Steve Smith going great guns a victory was on the cards. A tight spell of swing bowling by J Bumrah and restrictive bowling by the other bowlers made an easy task look hard.
Mumbai Indians win
The last over dawned with seven runs needed. However, despite a boundary by Manoj Tiwari the Pune team failed to reach the Mumbai total by one run. It was a great disappointment for the Pune team. For Rohit Sharma, it was a feather in his cap as he led Mumbai Indians to their 3rd consecutive title. No team has won so many titles in the Indian Premier league at a trot.
It was the 4th title win of the Mumbai team. Overall cricket was the winner as it was a thrilling match
The season is now over and the Indian team under Kohli is getting ready for the Champions trophy. It will be played in England and India will start their title defence with a match against Pakistan on 4 June 2017.The shorter format of the game has fired the imagination of the public and one fears that test cricket could be relegated in importance.
The IPL
The IPL is the brainchild of the Indian cricket board. Cricketers from all over the world, except Pakistan, are eligible to play in this league. Pakistan is kept out because of strained ties with India. The IPL is an excellent way to get a grounding in the short version of the game. It is also a money spinner and the Mumbai Indians took home a hefty pay packet.
