Karthik Lakshmanan, a writer for Wisden India, provides a review from the last few days of the Indian Premier League. For Part 1 click here.
Injuries and opportunities
The spate of injuries in the Indian Premier League 2016 has meant that amidst the misfortune for some, there have been opportunities for others. Having lost Steve Smith, their fourth overseas player to be injured this season, Rising Pune Supergiants have called up the capable George Bailey, the former Kings XI Punjab captain, in place of the injured Faf du Plessis. He was the second replacement to be confirmed by Pune, Usman Khawaja, who replaced Kevin Pietersen, being the other. Elsewhere, the trend continued. When Shaun Marsh became the third Australian to be laid low by injury, the opportunity arose for Hashim Amla, who was called up as replacement by the franchise. Amla, who had set a base price of Rs. 1 crore (Dh577,000), went unsold in the IPL auctions in February and has never featured in the IPL. He won’t mind the injury curse engulfing the tournament though – he will be happy as long as he has his chance.
Kohli stares at suspension
Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, was fined Rs. 24 lakh (Dh5,500) for maintaining a slow over rate – for the second time in the 2016 IPL – in their match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore on Monday. His teammates too were docked Rs 12 lakh each. One more such offence will lead to Kohli being suspended for one match. In the same game, Gautam Gambhir too was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for an offence related to “abuse of cricket equipment” – in his case, a chair in the dug out when victory seemed in reach.
The rise of Russell
Since returning 3 for 24 in Kolkata Knight Riders’ opening game of the season, Andre Russell went through something of a lean patch, relative to his own lofty standards in the tournament. As the business end of the tournament approaches though, that seems to be changing – he seems to have struck form, and starred in Kolkata’s two consecutive victories. His all-round performance (1 for 24 and 39) delivered a dramatic win over Bangalore on Monday while his heroics with the ball (4 for 20) sealed a closely fought match against Punjab on Wednesday. It was the second of those performances which was particularly striking, the big man defending 12 runs in the final over. He did so by picking up a wicket, apart from doing his bit in two run-outs. He is the engine of this Kolkata side, and it’s no coincidence that his rise has led to Kolkata reaching the top of the table.
Star performance
Andre Russell produced his second consecutive Man of the Match performance to help Kolkata beat Punjab in a thriller at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Defending 164, Russell struck twice in his first two overs before returning to bowl a terrific final over to seal a win. Glenn Maxwell’s 42-ball 68 and Axar Patel’s late blitz got the equation to 12 from one over but Russell conceded just four, ending with figures of 4 for 20.
Worst display
Bangalore’s never-ending death bowling woes cost them yet another match and pushed them to No 7 in the points. On Monday, chasing 186, Kolkata were in trouble at 69 for 4 in the 11th over when Russell and Yusuf Pathan joined hands – they needed an unlikely 81 from the last six overs but the power of Yusuf (60 not out from 29 balls) and Russell (39 from 24) delivered a five-wicket win.
Best shot
The brute force of Russell came to the fore when he blasted Tabraiz Shamsi, the Bangalore chinaman spinner, over long-on for consecutive sixes in the 15th over on Monday. The first of the two shots was incredible as it was smashed as far as 95 metres down the ground despite Russell being on the backfoot.
Best quote
“Dravid is just a great human being to talk to, and I feel him and Paddy have created an environment where – obviously we have got a lot of young, pretty inexperienced players as well – they are made to feel as if they can just go out and express themselves. Especially as a young international player from overseas, to have an environment to come into where there is great for confidence yourself to go out and play your natural game is invaluable.” – Sam Billings, the Delhi Daredevils wicketkeeper-batsman.
Key game
With the tournament entering a phase where teams will begin to eye the spots for the playoffs, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s clash against Gujarat Lions clash in Hyderabad on Friday assumes importance. Gujarat are second with 12 points from nine matches while Hyderabad are fifth, having won four of their seven games. Gujarat, who have lost two in a row, were beaten by 10 wickets by Hyderabad in Rajkot earlier and would be aiming to pay back in Hyderabad’s home venue.
Key statistic
Rishabh Pant, the 18-year-old Delhi opening batsman, became only the second youngest batsman to score a half-century in IPL when he smashed a 40-ball 69 that helped Delhi beat Gujarat on Tuesday.
