Kolkata: In a day that brought joy and some sadness for Mumbai Indians fans, their team finally annexed their maiden Indian Premier Legue title by upstaging a jittery Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs in the final here on Sunday, but also had to bear the news that star batsman Sachin Tendulkar has decided to bring his IPL career to an end.
“For World Cup I had to wait for 21 years but for this I had to wait for only six years. Also this is special for me as I won’t be playing in IPL next season,” Tendulkar said at the end of Mumbai Indians’ triumph.
“I think this is the right time to stop playing IPL. Just got to accept the reality that this would be my last season. I am happy that the sending was perfect,” the maestro added.
For Tendulkar, the current season surpassed their show in the third edition where they narrowly lost the final to Chennai Super Kings.
“I’ve enjoyed my six seasons with Mumbai Indians. Its been fantastic journey. This season was superb. We thought our third season was the best but this one is the icing on the cake,” the legend stated.
Mired in spot-fixing controversy after the arrest of owner N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, Chennai Super Kings found the 149-run target, usually an easy ask by their standard, a little too much as they finished on 125 for nine on a difficult track.
Kieron Pollard (60 no and 1/34, 1 catch) was the Man-of-the-Match for his all-round effort.
Skipper MS Dhoni now lost back-to-back IPL finals despite being the lone man standing in the end with an unbeaten 63.
As soon as the last delivery was bowled by Pollard, senior pros Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting along with Team Mentor Anil Kumble rushed to the ground.
Just like 2011 World Cup final, Tendulkar did a lap of honour with the teammates like Harbhajan carrying him on their shoulders.
Lasith Malinga (2/22) and Mitchell Johnson (2/19) set the tone before Harbhajan Singh (2/14) joined in the act as it was a rare batting disaster for the IPL heavyweights who featured in four straight, five overall, finals.
Four of their batsmen including Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja got out for noughts while tournament top-scorer Michael Hussey (1) was dismissed first-up by a perfect Lasith Malinga toe-crusher to set the tone.
With the team reeling at 57 for seven after 11th over, there was no chance for the ‘Men in Canary Yellow’ to make a comeback although Dhoni did try his best.
For Mumbai Indians, Eden Gardens remained a happy hunting ground with six wins from seven outings this season as it Rohit Sharma and Co.
Down with a wrist injury, Tendulkar however celebrated every moment of their triumph as the trophy was like a ‘farewell gift’ for the 40-year-old who may not be around in the next season.
Mumbai Indians earned a prize purse of Rs 10 crore, while runners-up Chennai Super Kings were awarded Rs 7.5 crore in the Rs 25 crore prize money tournament.
The packed Eden bleeded blue in the summit clash as Mumbai Indians found themselves at ‘home’ even while defending a modest 149.
The intent became quite clear in the very fourth ball when Malinga, ‘the slinger’, bowled Michael ‘Mr Cricket’ Hussey (1), the ‘Orange Cap’ holder (733 runs), with his typical toe-crushing yorker.
A second wicket in the next ball when Suresh Raina (0) was dismissed softly had the Eden crowd on its feet with chants of ‘Mumbai Mumbai’ in the stands. (PTI)