Captain Marvel Virat Kohli; Ravi Ashwin under used: IPL Week 5 in review Part 1

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Disha Shetty, a writer for Wisden India, provides a review from the last few days of the Indian Premier League.

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Leading from the front

Like the successful chasing formula in this IPL, the form of batting captains who have doubled up as openers is another interesting trend. Virat Kohli, David Warner, Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma – all captain-openers – occupy four of the top five spots in the batting charts. In fact, Murali Vijay too marked his captaincy debut with a half-century in a rare win for Kings XI Punjab. Leading the way is Kohli, whose purple patch has continued from the World Twenty20. This year he has so far amassed 1,013 runs at a strike-rate of 112.55 in T20s. While Kohli’s table-topping 541 runs, of which 52 came the only time he batted at No 3 this season, has not been complemented by Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers. Warner’s aggressive 458 runs has been in sync with a strong Sunrisers Hyderabad pace unit. The triumphant form of Gambhir (398 runs) and Rohit (388 runs) has been largely responsible for their team’s victories.

Sharmas to the fore

Kings XI Punjab are languishing at the bottom of the table, but their death-over bowling in the nine-run win over Delhi Daredevils has become one of the talking points of the league for the manner in which Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma, with assistance from Marcus Stoinis and KC Cariappa, successfully defended 54 runs in the last six overs. Their reverse swing, yorkers and slower ones kept heavyweights such as Karun Nair, Chris Morris, Sam Billings and Carlos Brathwaite under check, as Delhi managed only two fours and two sixes at the business end of the chase. The standout delivery was Mohit’s searing yorker that fell Rishabh Pant. In the larger context, the ability of Mohit, bought by Punjab for Rs6.5 crores in the 2016 auctions, and Sandeep adds a sense of purpose to India’s find for quality death-over bowlers.

Under-utilisation of Ravi Ashwin

India’s premier spinner for the past few years, Ravi Ashwin has not found his mojo in this IPL. In 10 matches so far, he has taken just three wickets, and completed his quota on just four occasions. It has not helped the cause of Rising Pune Supergiants, who are sixth on the points table. What has been intriguing is MS Dhoni’s reluctance to use his strike bowler even when he has started well. Against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Ashwin, introduced into the attack in the 17th over, bowled a solitary over and conceded seven. It was the second occasion this season that he bowled just one over. It could be argued that the left-right combination at the crease may have stopped Dhoni from using Ashwin more frequently, and also dew may have played a role, but that doesn’t really answer the question.

Star performance

Virat Kohli’s extraordinary hot streak extended to a well-crafted unbeaten 58-ball 108 in a seven-wicket win for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Rising Pune Supergiants. The knock, studded with eight fours and seven sixes, was a perfect example of how to orchestrate a steep 192-run chase with little panic as Bangalore ended their three-match losing run with three balls to spare. Without any unnecessary improvisation, the innings was a masterclass in using textbook shots successfully in T20 cricket.

Worst display

Back after a break, it wasn’t a happy start for Mumbai Indians at their alternate home in Visakhapatnam. Chasing Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 177, they folded up for 92 – the lowest total this season – for an 85-run loss. It was the second occasion of a team getting bowled out below 100 this season. Parthiv Patel’s wicket in the first over started the landslide, and Mumbai were 30-5 inside five overs with Ashish Nehra bagging three top-order batsmen.

Best quote

“I never looked at my score in the scoreboard, all I looked at was how many runs and balls are there ... how many runs we need to score, in which over. In that process, if you get a milestone like that it feels sweet. But in an hour, or a couple of hours, when I realise what happened, then it’ll feel far sweeter.” – Virat Kohli after scoring his second IPL century.

Best catch

Cramped for space off Dwayne Smith’s bowling, Kolkata Knight Riders’s Suryakumar Yadav tried to lift the delivery over Suresh Raina at first slip. Among the finest fielders, the Gujarat Lions captain threw himself to his left, stuck out his right hand and pouched the ball before tumbling onto the ground.

Key game

It is against the backdrop of the race for a play-off spot that Delhi Daredevils will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday. Hyderabad have scripted a remarkable escape from the mid-table muddle to place themselves second with 12 points in nine matches so far, while Delhi have paid the price of their vulnerability and over-experimentation to lose two in a row and slip to fourth spot.

Key statistic

Virat Kohli, the first batsman to score two centuries in one season, is the only captain to make 500-plus runs in three IPLs. His tally in 2013 and 2015 were 634 and 505 respectively. This year he took eight innings to get to the 500-run mark, quickest by a batsman across nine editions.