David Warner hits back at his ex-team at the first opportunity, Virat Kohli’s collection of golden ducks keeps growing, Jasprit Bumrah produces a magic spell out of nowhere and Liam Livingstone stretches the limits of innovation.
Here is another weekly look at the Indian Premier League 2022.
Warner’s sweet revenge
This has to be among the most satisfying of paybacks. David Warner had first been sacked by Sunrisers Hyderabad as captain last season, and then, the franchise he’d led to its only IPL title in 2016 dumped him as player too. Things came to such a pass that Warner would not even travel with the squad to the ground for games and stay behind at the team hotel instead.
So when Delhi Capitals went up against Sunrisers at the Cricket Club of India last Thursday, all eyes were naturally on what Warner would do. Probably the only thing more ominous than an outwardly charged-up Warner is when the man takes guard with that cold, steely, over-my-dead-body determination. It was the latter avatar that had walked out against his former franchise for which he’d tallied more than 4,000 runs.
He proceeded to hammer the lightning pace of Umran Malik all around the ground with the effortless ease of a man out for his regular morning stroll. The slower bowlers were treated with even more disdain. He barely seemed to be bothered with the landmarks; there was just a raise of the bat to the dugout for his fifty. And despite going into the last over on 92 with the brightest chance of getting that hundred to rub it in further, he told Rovman Powell to hit as much as he could and was content to spend the entire over at the non-striker’s end.
After nine games in this IPL, he averages 53.57 with a strike-rate of 156.90. And fittingly, his highest score of the season has come against his old team. What on earth made Sunrisers think he was done as a batter? “I didn't need extra motivation. We've all seen what's happened before in the past,” was what Warner had to say, somewhat cryptically, after a Player of the Match performance.
It’s a one-ball game, Virat
The suburban train network in Mumbai takes half a breather on Sundays, as some tracks are taken off-grid for maintenance works. That increases the load on the remainder of the network and it can be a particularly daunting commute into town to watch an afternoon match at Wankhede Stadium in the peak heat of May. But if it is a Royal Challengers Bangalore game, you can be sure thousands will brave the heat and pack the stands, primarily to watch that man Virat Kohli bat. So the air of expectation steadily built up around the ground as RCB chose to bat first, and the usual ovation greeted Kohli as he walked out to start the game.
Harmless-looking first delivery from the slow left-armer J Suchith, angled full into the pad. Kohli’s turned the same delivery square to get off the mark countless times in white-ball cricket. But when it is going wrong for you, it can all go horrid pretty quickly. Kohli pushes at it and it pops up straight to a delighted midwicket. The crowd is stunned beyond belief.
Three first-ball ducks in one IPL season? That is as many as Kohli’s got in the 14 previous seasons of the league combined. The man himself has gone from typically passionate disappointment to uncharacteristically sullen resignation. He trudges off quietly and climbs the stairs to the dressing room slowly, as if contemplating just how completely the gods have turned against him.
Meanwhile, the fans console themselves by applauding heartily every time the ball travels to Kohli on the field later. And they forget their disappointment when he catches Aiden Markram in the deep. Kohli allows himself a sheepish grin. He knows his form is fickle, but his millions of fans aren’t.
Boom goes Bumrah
It’s been an indifferent season by Jasprit Bumrah’s standards. He hasn’t had much support from the rest of the Mumbai Indians attack, teams anyway look to largely play him out, and so he’s gone wicketless more often than not. But when ‘Boom’ is in the mood, there is no escape for batters. It does not matter how much the opposition is seemingly in control of the game.
Kolkata Knight Riders were 123 for 2 in 13 overs at DY Patil Stadium. Enter Bumrah, and chaos ensues. Andre Russell is first pegged back with a laser-guided yorker. And the next ball rears up at the big allrounder, who does not back away and decides to take it on, only to offer a simple catch to long-on. Bumrah knows he’s cracked the code to rip through what is essentially a line-up vulnerable to the short ball. He has that bounce in his stride which indicates he is busy and eager to execute his plan.
Almost nothing pitches in the batter’s half now. Nitish Rana, Sheldon Jackson, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine - all more than capable batters rendered helpless by one nasty bouncer after the other on a large outfield where mishits won’t normally fly for six. Two overs of absolute mayhem later, KKR lurch to 165 for 9, having been well within sight of 200 before Bumrah stepped in. It is another matter that MI mess up what appears to be a straightforward chase, but there can only be one Player of the Match here. How often do you see figures of 4-1-10-5 in a T20? The finest tribute to the spell is when no less than someone of Cummins’ stature says in the post-match press conference that Bumrah showed KKR how to bowl on this pitch.
The long and short, by Livingstone
Depending on which pitch on the square is used, one square boundary is at most times slightly longer than the other, and the difference gets magnified when either of the two wickets at each end of the square is used. But T20 teams can also take their tactical responses to boundary variations to ridiculous lengths. That was the case at Wankhede when Punjab Kings took on Rajasthan Royals.
In trying to force Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma to hit to the longer off side, Prasidh Krishna went round the stumps, with a packed off-side field comprising fly slip, third man, deep point, sweeper cover, extra cover and mid-off. Knowing that Krishna’s line would be wide, Livingstone went and stood on at least where the sixth stump would have been, exposing all three sticks. Krishna immediately walked up to the umpire for a word, but Livingstone stood his ground.
The thing with making it so obvious a tactic is that, unless you are willing to bluff, the batter will also be ready with his response. And Sharma and Livingstone were prepared to stretch their bodies and carve wide balls over mid-off for boundaries. Krishna tried going back over the wicket but Livingstone was quick enough to shuffle and lap it to the vacant long-leg rope.
Krishna reverted to round the stumps, and Livingstone went back to his guard a foot outside off stump. It is then that Krishna did something he should perhaps have done a couple of overs ago. He went fast, full and straight for the stumps. There was little Livingstone could do about a quick yorker from his frontier position outside off. As soon as the bails flashed red, Livingstone turned around and exited the scene.
