At the end of the 15th Indian Premier League, the folks running it should have been sitting proud. Two brand new teams making their debut; one of them Gujarat Titans lifting the cup. Another team Lucknow Super Giants finished a creditable 4th. This showed a flavor much like the EPL, expect the unexpected !
In the 16th version Gujarat Titans almost got their hands on the trophy but were outwitted by CSK on a hot evening on 28th May, 2023, the match ending in the Narendra Modi stadium almost at midnight . Mumbai Indians who had finished 10th in 2022, had bounced back in 2023 IPL with a creditable 3rd spot.
Shubman Gill was player of the tournament. Hardik Pandya showed his x-factor.. Rohit Sharma who lifted his Mumbai side creditably also cemented his position as the captain of the Indian side. The stage is set for an exciting IPL 2024..Right ??? Wrong it appears !! Just one big howler was to upset the apple cart !
Because Hardik, the guy with the x-factor for the GT team was now appointed as captain of the Mumbai Indians! Despite , Rohit Sharma being the undisputed captain of India in all formats, he was made deputy to the guy parachuted into the team to the shock & disbelief of MI supporters & the loud silence of Experts !
In the reality show, KBC, whenever the option of an audience poll is taken, they (as a group) get it right 90% of the time. Why so? Due to the fact that what is common knowledge may be missed by an individual but the group as a whole knows the real answer. Of course, it helps if the question is about 'Pop Culture'.
Let's look at how this has destroyed two teams, Mumbai Indians & Gujarat Titans. At the time of writing GT were 9th and MI were 10th with 3 & 4 wins in 11 outings. Both are clearly out of the reckoning. A case for 'Mutually Assured Destruction' could not have been better stated. Both have taken a beating, apparently ! The Indian team selected for T-20 has 11 players from the teams under-performing in the current IPL version (till today, that is). MI (4), DC (3), RCB (2), PBKS (1) GT (1)..What does it tell ? A mixed picture, but it shows that the best players often represent franchisees performing badly. Whose fault ? You guess !
Does it have a portent for the upcoming T-20 World Cup fixture ? Afraid so. The equations between the captain, the vice captain and the senior most players is likely to be jinxed. Now, we are looking at all this, more from a management perspective. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"... Haven't we all heard this before ?
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