From ashes to top: KKR creats history by winning the IPL coveted title for the second time
Bengaluru: Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit, Vince Lombardi, the late American football player, coach and executive.
In many ways, Kolkata Knight Riders, who rose from the ashes like the Phoenix, typified Lombardi’s assessment as they reeled off a stunning nine wins in a row, something unheard of at this level, especially in the T20 format, as they swept away all opposition to claim the coveted IPL crown with a three-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in the Seventh Season finale on Sunday night.
Winning once could probably be branded off as a fluke but to do it again reveals champion stuff and that’s what Gautam Gambhir’s Knight Riders did. Having been virtually sidelined for a place in the top four after a stuttering campaign early on where they lost five of their seven games, the Knights, champions in 2012, were hurting and knew they were made of better stuff.
Hindsight is a great teacher; it’s just that it never helps you at the opportune moment. But the Knight Riders’ belief in their collective ability and the hunger to climb the mountain saw a remarkable transformation in the team once they landed back in India. Call it a masterstroke or an act of desperation but the elevation of Robin Uthappa to his favoured opening slot literally changed the fortunes of the team.
The Bengaluru lad, who relishes the role, took to the opportunity like duck to water and significantly, the rest of the jigsaw pieces fell into place. Now to credit one man’s role is foolhardy but the Knight Riders began to gain ascendancy and began to swat away everything before them, like champions do.
The genesis of their resurgence lay in the stunning show against Sunrisers Hyderabad where the sleeping giant in Yusuf Pathan woke up to create absolute mayhem and pull off a heist and vault them second position in the league.
Much as everyone would have loved Uthappa to continue his glorious form in the final, it was but fitting in the nature of things that someone else stood up for count to clearly lay emphasis on their team-game. Pandey, having had a decent outing at best with 300-odd runs from 15 games coming into the final, way below Uthappa’s radar of 660, took over the baton in the high-scoring chase to underline his pedigree.
An aggressive stroke-maker sans the brute power and relying purely on timing, the 24-year-old Pandey came to the party in a show of supple wrists. The half-cock pull, the flat-batted drive to the covers took the breath and Kings XI’s hopes away.
Rival skipper George Bailey, quick-witted and easy on the eye, praised Pandey for a ‘ballsy innings’.
Shah Rukh Khan was a hit, with the fans were delirious and the rampant Knights were fittingly crowned champions, to become only the second team apart from CSK to win two titles.Winning is not a one-time thing.
