If the popularity of the Karnataka Premier League is to be measured by the turnout for the final, then it has been a rather good hit. A capacity crowd thronged Hubli’s KSCA Stadium on Friday evening; some took their seats an hour in advance, many spilled out of the galleries, while some more were turned back at the gates with the obligatory lathi-charge.
They were not disappointed. In a nerve-wracking contest that boiled down to the final over, Mysore Warriors secured the championship with a six-wicket defeat of Belagavi Panthers.
Amit Verma swung the contest Mysore’s way with a clinical assault towards the end, sparking off celebrations that likely carried on long into the night.
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“That was a classic demonstration of how pressure should be handled,” Manish Pandey, the Mysore captain, said afterwards. “Amit has always been someone who can clear the ropes. He’s very calm in situations like this.”
Pandey was later hoisted by his team-mates on their shoulders, and carried on a lap of the ground. The camaraderie in the Mysore camp was evident throughout the tournament; its role in the triumph cannot be overlooked.
“Before the tournament we had a couple of outings in the jungle. That helped us to bond. One thing we spoke about was cherishing one another’s success. As captain, I had a good team: not just good batsmen and bowlers but good thinkers. It was a pleasure to lead them,” Pandey said.
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The player of the tournament, Shishir Bhavane, and the competition’s leading wicket-taker, J. Suchith, were both part of the Mysore side. The two youngsters were not unknown names: the former has been a regular for Karnataka in age-group cricket and the latter has represented the senior team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. “But they needed a big stage to showcase their talent,” Pandey felt. “This will do them a lot of good.”
The crowds may have flocked to the ground in Hubli and Mysore (first leg), but in Bangalore it was a very different story. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was largely empty, with little time or interest – it seemed – for the KPL in the big city.
But Brijesh Patel, the KSCA secretary, feels the success of the tournament lay in the response to it in the smaller towns. “It was a conscious decision to play the final in a mofussil venue,” he says. “A lot of young boys are coming to the grounds. Definitely, it’s going to inspire the youngsters here. Also, with the facilities at these districts, there is an opportunity for them.”
One sore point, it is felt, was the participation of the Rockstars – a side drawn from the film industry and led by the actor Sudeep. Although their celebrity value understandably drew large numbers of spectators, the Rockstars predictably lost all their matches, by embarrassing margins. In private, more than one coach expressed his reservations, feeling that the tournament was being devalued.
The KSCA, though, has no plans of disbanding the Rockstars team. “They brought the glamour into it but it was one match where the other boys could also relax,” Brijesh says.
“Maybe next time we’ll look at giving them four (professional) players to strengthen their team. Definitely they’re a good addition to the tournament. The crowds are there when they play. We’ll keep the team for the next season as well.”
Pandey, for his part, minced no words in his appraisal of the KPL. “It was a great success,” he said.
“The way people turned up and supported us was great. This is one way of getting all the players together. We should have this every year.”