Vizag calling, but wait, worrisome Wankhede first!

When I re-activated this blog a little over a week ago, my favorite team in the IPL (12 years and counting...) had just lost 6 consecutive matches, only to stare directly at elimination. As a fan, I had accepted our fate for this season and was already looking ahead to what different we can do in IPL 2020. A few days later, as I type my third piece of the season today (yes, I've not been at my active best), my team is a win away from making it to the playoffs with NRR having no consequence whatsoever to the end result. Yes, it's as simple as simple can be - win the game tonight and play the first eliminator in Vizag.

It's funny how things can change so drastically within days in a tournament like this, and that's the beauty of the IPL. You're down and out, but you're never really down and out because other results that aren't in your control go your way and you're suddenly back in business. It's almost been a fairy tale comeback for us, with two back to back convincing wins after six straight losses, coupled with other results going just the way we'd have wanted.

Bouyant much?

My previous piece was published on the brink of our first match against the Mumbai Indians this season, a team that has acquired the habit to break my heart when they play KKR. After a dry spell which lasted 4 seasons, we finally overcame them Indians at the den, our last match at home this season. And now, as the last league fixture of IPL 2019 takes place at the Wankhede (where our record is abysmal), it will require us to overcome them once again within a space of 8 days, if we have to qualify. What a climax it will be, if Dre Russ gets going at what is possibly the smallest ground in the IPL when it comes to the length of the boundaries. But the big positive from our last victory against KXIP is us demonstrating that we don't necessarily have to depend on him to win games, in addition to other positives like Shubhman Gill showing us his true class and temperament and DKs form, both batting and captaincy.

Can our positives outweigh our negatives?

It's a no brainer that Mumbai is going to come hard at us tonight, but the catch here is that our encounters with our nemesis team don't end this season if we win tonight and make it to the playoffs. If we win, we face them for the third time this season at a neutral venue (Chennai) in the Eliminator, and boy what a feeling it will be to beat them thrice in the same IPL. Okay the emotional side of me is taking over now, making me think too far ahead. As of now, the focus needs to be on getting the right result at the W tonight. The batting is beginning to click as a cohesive unit with Gill owning that opening slot with Lynn. Narine is showing glimpses of his form in 2012 and 2014, the two years when we lifted the trophy, which is a great sign. Sandeep Warrier has been a revelation for us, and you can't help but ask where was he all this while. Our death bowling remains a worry though, the biggest issue contributing to the position we find ourselves in today.

Looking back, this has been a season of two extremes for us. It's only fair to admit that we haven't played like a champion side, and we probably don't deserve to go all the way. So I'm just going to enjoy this last match and hope that we live to fight another day. If it doesn't happen, I'll just embrace the eventuality and look forward to a more convincing campaign next year. Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo!