Column

After what transpired in the first semifinal, there could be a strong case for prevention of cruelty against unsuspecting opponents. This was expected to be a cakewalk for Delhi; in the event, they got a hiding that neither their players nor spectators are likely to forget in a hurry.

There have been bigger scores in Twenty20 cricket, and more sixes and fours hit by a batsman, but has anybody played an innings of such devastating impact as Adam Gilchrist, I wonder. From the first ball he faced till he was dismissed, he was like a man possessed, which meant that Delhi were quickly dispossessed of a place in the final.

Aficionados, of course, might recall that this is not the first time Gilchrist has swung an important game away irrevocably from the opposing team. The 2007 World Cup final in which he scored a blistering hundred is one of many striking examples. Even so, the Delhi team, mercurial Viru Sehwag not excluded, would question the propriety of a 37-year-old to play the kind of innings that Gilchrist did to stuff them. “If he is so good, then why is he retired?” they could question with an indignation that might find resonance across the cricket world.

Gilchrist was easily the greatest wicket-keeper batsman in the history of the game till he retired last year. The manner in which he has batted in this tournament sustains his status in the game, and makes his retirement look foolishly premature. Clearly his genius remains intact.

Gilchrist’s brilliance also imbues this tournament with a deep sense of romance, and dollops of delectable irony as well. Who would have believed that last year’s bottom-ranked team would be the first to make it to the final this year? Who will now bet against Bangalore, last year’s seventh placed side, getting the better of last year’s runners up Chennai in today’s semifinal?

What a gloriously uncertain game this!