The final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) couldn't have witnessed a better climax. If the tournament itself was solemnised in a ritual that overflowed with entertainment, the concluding chapter turned out to be the most nail-biting finish this format of the game could offer. In years to come, the record books will bring to light the performance of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in a match that had all the ingredients of a potboiler. It will never matter who won; what will eventually play on the minds of everyone will be the manner in which Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina lit up the stadium.
Always playing under the shadow of his more famous brother Irfan, Yusuf, with 435 runs, came into his own by becoming the seventh highest scorer in the tournament. But in times to come, stories will definitely be written about how a shy Yusuf, a year older than Irfan, came out of his brother's shadow to carve a niche of his own.
Sunday could be Yusuf's happiest day in cricket till now, but few would know when the dullest was - the day when Irfan returned from the South Africa tour in 2006, midway, to play the Ranji Trophy. Yusuf's form had been depressingly low and Baroda, in need of a victory over Uttar Pradesh, dropped his half-brother. Yusuf warmed the bench, thinking loudly in front of this reporter: "Mere liye jagah nahi hai team mein (there is no place for me in this team)".
Raina, on the other hand, seemed to be waiting for an opportunity like this. He ended up with 421 runs, his 43 off 30 balls the biggest factor in setting up Chennai's total. Just before he arrived in Mumbai, Raina had been talking about his stint in the Deodhar Trophy four seasons ago, a particular knock in the nineties that still remains his personal favourite. "Ek waisa innings chahiye phir se (need another innings like that one)," he had said. On Sunday, he came closest to achieving it.
The confidence that IPL has given should easily help fade the troubling times in the past few years.
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