Virender Sehwag

Chennai: In normal circumstances, all the talk on the eve of Sunday’s final would’ve been on the strengths and weaknesses of the Chennai Super Kings (the most successful team in the IPL’s history) and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Instead, on Saturday, there was still bewilderment over the blunders scripted by the league toppers, the Delhi DareDevils, on Friday.

Even somebody insane may not have dropped Morne Morkel, the Purple Cap holder in IPL-V. Messrs Virender Sehwag and Eric Simons did just that. Morkel was left “shocked.”

But that wasn’t all.

Sehwag chose to field, opened the attack with an absolute rookie (Sunny Gupta) and, when it came to chasing a massive 223, he didn’t open!

Astonishing, coming from somebody who claims to be aggressive in his thinking.

“The moves could have clicked,” is all that the DareDevils’ owner, the soft-spoken Kiran Kumar Grandhi, told The Telegraph.

Despite the thrashing in what was a ‘semi-final’, Grandhi insisted that the squad lunch together, on Saturday, before dispersing.

Except for Mahela Jayawardene, who’d left for home, and a little-known Indian player, the rest were present at the team hotel.

Sehwag, Simons and Grandhi spoke. While the loss was touched upon, the tone was one of appreciating the franchise’s superb run till the playoffs.

“There was disappointment, but there were no recriminations... Moving forward may not be easy in the immediate future, but there are lessons to learn,” is how a well-placed source put it.

According to Simons, the team needs to have “dimensions.”