ICL's second season was indeed bigger & better

"Cricket hai meri life," seems to beImran Nazir's mantra. The dashing opener provided the perfect finishing touch toan exhilarating month's Twenty20 action as the curtains came down on the IndianCricket League's 20s Indian Championship at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel stadiumin Ahmedabad on Sunday night.Lahore Badshahs, after being denied thetitle in the last tournament, proved that they were a cut above the rest with anear flawless display which helped them score a resounding eight-wicket victoryover the clueless Hyderabad Heroes in the third of the best-of-threefinals.It was high voltage stuff from the right-handed, who remainedunbeaten on 111 off only 44 balls with seven fours and 11 mighty sixes.This was incidentally the second century of the ICL with the firstone too coming in this tournament Alok Kapali hammering an exact 100 on October15 against Hyderabad Heroes at Hyderabad. If Kapali's knock was apath-breathing one, then Nazir's swashbuckling century was made of fairy-talestuff. It was the most brutal assault that one got to see in Twenty20 cricketwith the nearest one to it being Yuvraj Singh's six-sixes in an over in theTwenty20 World Championship last year. Nazir ended up as the leadingscorer in the tournament with 392 runs to his credit. He also won $10,000 forsmashing the longest six which cleared 140 meters. As promised bythe organizers, ICL's first tournament of Season II turned out to be bigger andbetter than the previous ones last season. And Nazir epitomized the spirit ofthe tournament. It was pure entertainment for the spectators, who lapped upevery bit of the action. The Heroes, on the other hand, lookedragged in the finals. However, the silver lining for them was the emergence ofStuart Binny as the most promising Indian player. The Karnataka lad took homethe Kapil Dev Award. The other semi-finalists, Royal Bengal Tigersstarted off with a bang but lost steam towards the end of the league phase. TheTimesjobs.com Chennai Superstars too promised much but failed to live up to it.The biggest disappointment was Magicbricks.com Mumbai Champs, whonotched up just one win in nine matches. What was pathetic was the effort put inby the players on the field. They seemed to lack the will to win.Though Badshahs won the trophy, it was the Dhaka Warriors who stolethe hearts. Playing their first tournament, the Warriors showed that they hadthe talent to match the best in the business. With a bit of luck, they couldhave been one of the semi-finalists. But they will be wiser by theexperience.