If the current IPL lacks zing due to its timing (scheduled as it is just after the World Cup), it did throw up a few surprises and helped uncover a few gems.
At the start of the tournament we had a relatively unknown Paul Valthaty bursting onto the scene with a quick fire century (120 off 63 balls). Since then the public have been expecting him to emulate that act in every match. Valthaty’ story is one of grit and determination. He had been injured in an under-19 world cup match (in 2002) and almost lost his eyesight. After getting cured he worked hard at a comeback finally doing so in 2009. He was part of the Mumbai squad and also the Rajasthan Royals squad for the past two years. In IPL 2009 and 2010 he did not do much except warm the bench for most of the time.
But what a turn around he has had since he joined Kings XI this year! Today he is spoken of in the same breath as big hitters like Uthapa and Pathan.
If Valthaty’s story is fascinating, Prasanth Parameswaran’s story seems straight out of a fairy tale! Inducted as a nets bowler for the Tuskers just a few days back, he impressed the coach Lawson so much that when there was a replacement opportunity Prasanth found himself in the squad. A couple of days later, he played his first match and the rest as they is history. He deservedly got the man of the match award as his dismissal of Sehwag was the most significant contribution to Kochi’s victory. Sreesanth did the translation during the post match interview. Good to see another Keralite do well. Hope he eventually makes it to the Indian team at some point.
Post script – Dada is back ! Yes he is ! Read in the papers yesterday that Saurav Ganguly has been inducted by the Pune Warriors as a replacement for Nehra. Well Pune does indeed need some inspiration – they are currently languishing at the bottom of the points table. It remains to seen whether the Dada magic will work for Pune.
At the start of the tournament we had a relatively unknown Paul Valthaty bursting onto the scene with a quick fire century (120 off 63 balls). Since then the public have been expecting him to emulate that act in every match. Valthaty’ story is one of grit and determination. He had been injured in an under-19 world cup match (in 2002) and almost lost his eyesight. After getting cured he worked hard at a comeback finally doing so in 2009. He was part of the Mumbai squad and also the Rajasthan Royals squad for the past two years. In IPL 2009 and 2010 he did not do much except warm the bench for most of the time.
But what a turn around he has had since he joined Kings XI this year! Today he is spoken of in the same breath as big hitters like Uthapa and Pathan.
If Valthaty’s story is fascinating, Prasanth Parameswaran’s story seems straight out of a fairy tale! Inducted as a nets bowler for the Tuskers just a few days back, he impressed the coach Lawson so much that when there was a replacement opportunity Prasanth found himself in the squad. A couple of days later, he played his first match and the rest as they is history. He deservedly got the man of the match award as his dismissal of Sehwag was the most significant contribution to Kochi’s victory. Sreesanth did the translation during the post match interview. Good to see another Keralite do well. Hope he eventually makes it to the Indian team at some point.
Post script – Dada is back ! Yes he is ! Read in the papers yesterday that Saurav Ganguly has been inducted by the Pune Warriors as a replacement for Nehra. Well Pune does indeed need some inspiration – they are currently languishing at the bottom of the points table. It remains to seen whether the Dada magic will work for Pune.
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