'Mysore' Majesty: RCB Aim to Crown their Dasara celebrations

Sure, RCB is a city franchise but after a Dasara which concluded only about three days ago, Karnataka fans will want their traditional pageant to be marked by a Champions Trophy victory in the final.

So, RCB’s past the danger of David Warner’s switch-thwacks (called so because these go for sixes) but of course our counter man was always there – Chris Gayle, also an opener and also a left hander. The comparisons go on because now Mumbai Indians whom RCB play in the CLT20 2011 finals shortly have Blizzard, another left handing opening batsman who thundered his team to win in a league match during IPL 2011. RCB will not underestimate any left hander or right hander in the Mumbai Indians side if even they’ve not been effective recently.

This is the final of finals, being the Champions League, which translates to the champion of champions. Any ‘nondescript,’ leave alone a relatively good player not ‘firing’ presently may come to the stage in this match. As Ian Chappell said recently, “Sometimes the game teaches you to play.” The pressure, so to speak, is on the big guns Gayle, Malinga, Kohli but someone else may well come to ‘the party.’ So could this match be ‘X-factor’ dependent? 

Fanatic fans can’t help looking at the ‘near future’ even as the superstitious ones don’t dare venture there. ‘Arun Karthik the hero of the tournament’, ‘Kohli the core performer,’ the former needing no mention of how he propelled RCB into the semi-final of the tournament, and Gayle the man who’s exhausted all quotations, right from the first quarter of the IPL when he joined the team.

Largely, RCB feels a total of 180 is a good one which would mean if batting second they might like to restrict the ‘Indians’ to 165? The fear factor of Malinga is not there. The team management is either hiding exact plans if there are any in place, or they are sure that their batters know how to play out there. It was noteworthy how they approached the semi-final against another ‘blue-shirted’ side, the New South Wales Blues with a quiet calm. That is, from the strategic point of view. Nobody seemed jittery about the New South Wales ‘biggies.’  The brains trust confided merely that they knew what has to be done. And did it in style although of course the big sixes of Chris and the timely ones of Kohli shadowed any efforts the other players or coaches may have put in.

All in all, we’re set for a pulsating final. In terms of ‘local feelings’ in Chennai where the match will be played, the locals might make the ‘Mumbai Indians the home side’ because of the age-old rivalry between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Karnataka fans will be thinking of this as a great opportunity to show their ‘other cousins’ across the Belgaum border who’s better.

Fans, hang on for some great action. And importantly, support your team’s efforts. The right result will come with the optimum efforts.