The third edition of Indian Premier League has been the best and most exciting without a shadow of doubt.  While the first semi final pits two skippers Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumber who spearheaded their departments for their national teams, the second semi final too pits skippers Adam Gilchirst who are similar in many ways.

You do find many too players in the world who can tear apart any top international attack in the world in the way Gilchrist has done while playing for Australia and what is more spectacular is that he has done this with remarkable consistency.  What is once in a lifetime innings for many players is what millions were accustomed to see Gilchrist performing on regular basis especially in Test Matches in the middle order.

Similarly the game has not seen many better finishers than Mahendra Singh Dhoni who considers Adam Gilchrist as his idol.  What is spectacular about Dhoni is the fact that he finishes off matches and ensures that he remains at the crease till the winning runs are hit. Another area where Dhoni scores over many he is, he can be a nudger and pusher whenever he wants and that is remarkable considering the fact that he is primarily known for those huge hits.

If Ricky Ponting is an outstanding captain it is only because  Gilchrist was not considered for captainchy, because of his dual heavy work load as a wicket keeper and one of the main batsmen in the world. Gilchrist has done wonderfully well in the absence of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting and he proved his calibre once again while piloting Deccan Chargers, a team which finished last in 2008 to the title in 2009. Like Gilchrist,  Dhoni too has been an outstanding during his tenure as Indian captain and what has been special about Dhoni is the fact that he has given consistent results for India in all forms of the game and that is something which not many captains can boast of.

Gilchrist without a shadow of dobut has been the best captain in this editional of IPL after Sachin Tendulkar because he took his team to a clear second place in the league and that is creditable especially considering the fact that Deccan Chargers for most part of the team were unfacied and written of by media as a team which would not even make the semi finals.  Gilchrist however proved his critics wrong by marching to the semi finals with 5 successive victories while more fancied teams like Chennai and Bangalore were extremely fortunate to make it to the knock out phase. 

Dhoni though extremely consistent as captain and the best to captain India has always had a huge slice of luck as captain and one which could prove crucial in the semi finals but to be fair Hyderabad which charged to the semi finals deserve to be in the final than Chennai Super Kings who like Bangalore, played poor cricket for most part of the tournament, but were fortunate to sneak through on run rate.