IPL Best and Worst: Stars, Flops, and Future Prospects

Now that the final of the Indian Premier League has passed and the victorious Rajasthan Royals have taken the inaugural trophy, it is possible to reflect on what has been a truly superb competition.

But who has stood head and shoulders above the rest, and who has flopped into obscurity?

Bargain Buy of the Tournament: Sohail Tanvir

Pakistani fast-bowler Tanvir went for $100,000 in the auction and arrived with a murmur. However, he announced himself onto the scene with a bang and produced consistently, taking the leading wicket-taker's Purple Cap with 22 dismissals.

Tanvir's unique fast-arm action has made it almost impossible for batsmen to pick him, and this performance will have caught the selector's eye.

Biggest Flop: Mark Boucher

Plenty of rivals to Boucher for this one, but the big South African has to take the cake. A $950,000 buy in the initial auction, he consistently failed to live up to his pricetag and amassed a paltry 225 runs in 10 games.

Boucher has cost Bangalore a princely $4,222 per run. Compare that to Marsh's $53 per run and you can see the extent of his failure.

Best Find: Manpreet Gony

The young Indian bowler grew fantastically into the competition, and supported Makhaya Ntini superbly with the new ball. Chipping in with 14 wickets and an economy rate of 7.63, he has been one of the standout bowlers of the IPL.

He will surely be representing India sooner rather than later.

Best Innings: Brendom McCullum (158no)

When McCullum smashed a record Twenty20 score of 158 in the first match for the Kolkata Knight Riders against Bangalore, fans were wondering just what to expect from this Indian Premier League. And bowlers were quaking with fear.

Luckily for the rest of the league, McCullum had to depart for the Test series with England. However, the memory of his innings will live long into next year.

Shot of the Tournament: Suresh Raina

The second semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium saw a match-winning partnership between two stout left-handers, Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina. The highlight of this stand was a vast 104m six crunched over square leg that sailed straight out of the ground.

Best Youngster: Swapnil Asnodkar

Whilst not technically a youngster at 24, Asnodkar has been an absolute revelation opening the batting for the Rajasthan Royals. Aggressive and improvisational, the Goan has been in great form and built a superb opening partnership with South African giant Graeme Smith.

Asnodkar is a miniature powder-keg with an explosive strike and a fearless nature that makes him an extremely dangerous opener.

"Rolling back the Years" Awards: Sanath Jayasuria and Muttiah Muralitharan

Sanath and Murali, two stalwarts of Sri Lankan cricket, have been on the wrong side of 30 for some time now, but it certainly didn't show in the IPL.

Jayasuria finished third in the Orange Cap, leading the run-scorer's table with a commendable 514, maintaining an impressive strike rate of 166.

Whilst Muralitharan has not been taking the wickets some might expect, his great economy of 6.92 speaks volumes. As well as this, he has been running and diving around in the field like a man half his age. Two great advertisements for cricket in the twilight years.

Best Batsman: Shaun Marsh

Marsh arrived at the King's XI Punjab from domestic Australian side the Western Warriors for a mere $32,000 four games into the season. Despite this late arrival, he streaked to the top of the run-scoring charts and averaged an astonishing 74 for the tournament.

With a superb knock of 115 off 69 balls in the final league game against Rajasthan, Marsh ensured his value will be significantly higher next time around.

Best Bowler: Dale Steyn

A tournament-winning performance was never likely to be on the cards for Steyn, given Bangalore's poor run of form and results. Nevertheless, the rapid South African plugged away and produced excellent results, bowling quickly and accurately.

Steyn's showings were nothing short of outstanding and, even when the team was falling apart around him, he showed tremendous character and presence of mind to produce the standard of performance he did.

Best All Rounder: Shane Watson

Rajasthan's rock both with the bat and ball, Watson proved explosive in each and every inning.

Taking vital wickets and striking invaluable runs, it was his partnership with Yusuf Pathan that swung the final in Rajasthan's favour and took them to a winning position.

Albie Morkel deserves a mention in this category, with huge hits and great wickets to cap a memorable competition for one half of the Morkel brothers.

Worst Team: Deccan Chargers

Deccan would have been my pick even if they had pipped Bangalore to seventh spot. One of the most expensively assembled sides, the Chargers boasted world-class talent such as Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, and Adam Gilchrist.

Poor organisation and equally poor individual performance saw the Hyderabad side fail to win at home and wind up rock-bottom of the table. A season to forget for the Deccan Chargers.

Team of the Tournament: Rajasthan Royals

It's all too easy to pick the winners, but they truly were the best team in every sense of the word. Written off having lost the opening game, they stormed back to contention with a string of great results. By the end they were performing as a unit, and this cohesion saw them take the title in spectacular fashion.

The first Indian Premier League has been nothing short of a magnificent success. It can only be hoped that next year can provide the same thrills and spills that the memorable first season has brought.

Agree/Disagree? Have nominations of your own? Please comment below.