When the IPL franchises were first announced, I faced a dilemma - which team should I support?  My initial loyalties lay with the Mumbai Indians since I’ve spent about 13 years in Mumbai and I love Sachin Tendulkar.  However, there was the little matter of my “home” team, i.e., the Rajasthan Royals.  Both my parents come from Rajasthan so it happens to be my native state.  Which one would I pick?

After I looked at both teams, I had little confidence in either.  Other franchises had put together better teams, at least on paper.  In my opinion, Mumbai were the better team but after their horrendous start, my enthusiasm for them dwindled.  The Royals on the other hand, were doing exceptionally well.  Still, I stuck with both teams till the end of the league stage when Mumbai were eliminated.  From then on, I was supporting Rajasthan 100%.  They thoroughly deserved the win since they were the most consistent team in the tournament, even if the match went right down to the wire.

Shane Warne was never given the Australian captaincy for his off-the-field antics and he had a point to prove.  The franchise spent the least amount of cash on players but Warne & Co. built a team of winners from relatively unknown players.  He instilled a sense of belief and captained with his vast experience to lead RR to victory.  It was fitting that he was there when the winning runs were hit - nobody will forget his scintillating assault in the last over against the Deccan Chargers when he hammered Symonds to take RR home with a ball to spare.

I thought that the final was a fitting end to the tournament.  While I think the tournament needs to be shortened, it provided plenty of entertainment to cricket fans.  And so was the case with the final - RR getting home on the very last ball ensured an edge-of-your-seat end to the chase.  Unfortunately for Dhoni, he couldn’t conjure another great escape a la the T20 World Cup.  The tournament has thrown a lot of previously unheralded youngsters into the spotlight and hopefully, these guys will be the (bright) future of Indian cricket.

For now, I’m going to savor the sweet taste of victory and wake up early to start research at 9:30am.  See you folks tomorrow.