Mumbai give Tendulkar a winning send-off

Having picked the Super Kings to win back the IPL title, I suppose it was inevitable that the Mumbai Lions would come out on top in the Eden Gardens showdown. No Ponting or Tendulkar, but in this Final it was the T20 specialist Kieron Pollard whose batting proved decisive in the first innings. It was then the turn of the frontline bowlers to shine. When the two slingers Malnga and Johnson had despatched potential match-winners Mike Hussey, Raina and badrinath back to the dugout inside two overs with just three runs on the board, things were looking grim for CSK.

However, in T20, there's always hope. Some big sixes and there's always a chance of reaching the target before the remaining wickets tumble. Nevertheless at 39-6, all Chennai hopes were resting on one man's shoulders. Batsman, 'keeper and captain for CSK and India, MS Dhoni is used to immense pressure but this was one challenge beyond even his talents. To his credit, he compiled another unbeaten half-century but the pacemen, plus Ojha, Harbajhan Singh and Pollard, proved too difficult to hit. The dot balls mounted up and the game was up before the start of the final Pollard over. Sachin was out injured but the boyish enthusiasm was still to the fore on the boundary as Rohit Sharma spent ages pointlessly shuffling his field to defend more than twenty runs from the last ball!

What we didn't know was that the Little Master had already decided to make this IPL his last. A pity he couldn't represent the Indians on the pitch in their hour of success but he did at least bow out with a six a few weeks ago. At 40, Tendulkar has now officially retired from two of the major money-spinning formats IPL and ODIs. To his credit, he has left Test cricket to last but I think he should bow out this year. If he rediscovers the old form, perhaps he could persevere for longer, but at 40+ even the longest, most lucrative and stunningly successful career of the modern era has to end. Rahul Dravid, as so often, made the right decision at the right time. Perhaps Sachin is thinking of the succession plan in the national side. Essentially there doesn't seem to be one. So much batting talent in the Ranji Trophy and ODIs: Kohli, Raina, Rahane, Sharma, etc, etc, but such a shame that none have transferred their considerable potential on home soil to the Test arena around the world. Maybe it will come.

What the IPL won't produce is the next crop of Indian Test batsmen. The top order at the Indians, Super Kings, etc, are occupied by the international superstars like Gayle, Watson, Hussey and Jaywardene or retirees like Dravid and Ponting, giving little chance for the young guns. In any case, a few whirlwind 30s or 40s in IPL is hardly a firm foundation for a brilliant Test career. On the other hand, T20 does offer bowlers the chance to experiment with their craft in front of huge crowds, and has given an audience for the Narines of this world to develop. It doesn't allow them much of a chance to fail but when a bowler learns to take wickets and keep different batsmen guessing, that will hold them in good stead for any form of cricket.

Of course, this year's IPL has been rocked by the latest spot-fixing scandal. Where there's huge sums of money swilling around, there will also be unscrupulous individuals able to tempt players over to the 'dark side', risking their long-term sporting careers for short-term criminal gain. As Dravid said this weekend, that doesn't mean the IPL should be scrapped, because the dodgy bookies will merely find another tournament to taint.

And so the game moves on to what I would classify as more meaty cricket, with the 50-over Champions Trophy, more Test series and, for me, the County Championship. A 100% cake and chocolate diet is fun for a while, but mixing with some protein, carbs and greens is ultimately far more satisfying!