Doing what he had just 12 times in the past — and certainly never in the Indian Premier League — Adam Gilchrist doffed his wicket-keeping gloves and took the ball for Kings XI Punjab’s final over against the Mumbai Indians at the HPCA Stadium here on Saturday.
It was a safe bet for a novice bowler. At that stage, MI needed “more than 36” runs from those final six deliveries, prompting the Kings XI skipper into the switch, which paid off — first ball — with the wicket of Harbhajan Singh. It put the seal on not just the game, but also Gilly’s IPL career and the Kings XIs’ run in IPL-6, and as he said later, “It was a fun way to end the tournament”.
“It was disappointing not to make it through to the playoffs, sure and our eight-eight win-loss record probably summed up our efforts, a good indicator of how we went through this year. There were good moments but we had some bad ones too.”
For the record, Kings XI Punjab ran out winners by 51 runs over the Mumbai Indians, keeping the visitors down to 133/9 in 19.1 overs as injured last man Dhawal Kulkarni did not come out to bat. Gilchrist ruled out any further comebacks. “Last year before I went away, I spoke to the franchisees and they were very keen that I return. Also, I took too much on my plate as coach and captain. It impeded my enjoyment and I wanted one last opportunity to enjoy the game.
“At the same time, while I enjoyed the season, reality has set in too that I’m not going to come back again. The game has moved on, young guys are playing shots we can’t think of. It’s cricket of a different kind now. It’s a fun, action-packed tournament and it will be hard to stay away, but I have other things on my mind now, including four kids ”
Losing captain Rohit Sharma admitted it was disappointing to lose going into the playoff stage in Delhi in three days time. “We would have liked to have finished on top of the league table. It would have been reward for the consistent cricket we have played through this tournament.
“So yes, it was disappointing to lose today, but we wanted to try out a few things, team combinations and give some of the players on the bench a match. I didn’t work out today and it is important to regroup as soon as possible and see what conditions are like in Delhi (the venue of the first two playoff matches).”