Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, a batting bromance for the ages: IPL Week 6 in review Part 1

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

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The AB-Kohli show

In video games, a power-up can make a character temporarily invincible with abilities like superhuman strength and extreme speed. The way AB de Villiers (129* off 52) and Virat Kohli (109 off 55) toyed with Gujarat Lions, the only reasonable explanation was they must have been batting with power-ups. Royal Challengers Bangalore were 19 for 1 after four overs. The next 16 overs yielded a scarcely believable 229 runs. The sheer ferocity of De Villiers was enough to make the bowlers want to curl into a fetal position and start rocking back and forth. After bringing up a hundred off 43 balls, De Villiers passed the baton to Kohli to take it from there. From 51 off 41 balls, the Bangalore captain raced to his third century of the season in the next 12 balls. The 229-run stand propelled Bangalore to 248 for 3 and, a short while later, a 144-run win.

MS Dhoni imposter

Remember the long-locked Mahendra Singh Dhoni who’d hit sixes for fun? It seemed a lifetime ago if you were watching Rising Pune Supergiants in action against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. When he came to bat, the score 74 for 3 in the 11th over, Dhoni was greeted with two slips, a short leg and a silly point. The ploy nearly resulted in a wicket first ball, but he survived. And he seemed content with survival. When rain reared its head in the 18th over, the score read 103 for 6 with Dhoni unbeaten on 8 from 22 balls, going at a strike-rate of 36.36, the lowest by a batsman who had faced more than 20 balls in all IPLs. The game was reduced to nine-overs-a-side and Kolkata won easily. For the first time in nine years, Dhoni wouldn’t be playing the knockouts, and it was a telling stat.

Kings XI Punjab hullabaloo

First, rumours swirled about Preity Zinta, the usually smiling Kings XI Punjab team owner, shouting some choice words at Sanjay Bangar, the coach, after the one-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore. Then, the gossip mills targeted Shaun Marsh, accusing him of having his IPL cut short not because of injury, but a fight with a teammate. While Zinta and Bangar denied that they had a war of words, Mitchell Johnson, David Miller and Glenn Maxwell took to Twitter to rubbish the report about Marsh. Maybe it was a clever team-bonding exercise as Punjab managed to beat Mumbai Indians later that same day, but the afterglow of victory didn’t last long as they were eliminated by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next game. All the rumours about the team being in disarray may have been works of fiction, but to badly paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, each unhappy team is unhappy in its own way.

Star performance

In a line-up that includes Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill, Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler, it was 25-year-old Krunal Pandya who unleashed havoc against Delhi Daredevils and took Mumbai Indians to a much-needed win. Promoted to No 3 to counter the Delhi spinners, he showed no mercy, slamming 86 off just 37 balls and grabbing 2 for 15. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers might have hogged the limelight, but Pandya’s star is on the rise.

Worst display

The umpiring has been less than stellar. Against Mumbai Indians, Quinton de Kock was incorrectly adjudged caught behind after a 28-ball 40. Umpires are human, yes, but he was wrongly given out caught behind in the previous game too. De Kock held two fingers up before trudging off forlornly. On the flip side, Kolkata Knight Riders had a second appeal for caught behind, in as many games, turned down though there was in fact a nick.

Best shot

AB de Villiers was yet to get off the mark when he found himself facing the bowling of Gujarat’s Shivil Kaushik for the first time in the tournament. He left a wide delivery alone, but the next ball, he took one step back and sent it sailing over cover for six.

Best quote

“My secret’s very simple – my wife is here to watch.” – AB de Villiers on his unbeaten 129 off 52 balls against Gujarat Lions.

Key game

Keep your eyes peeled for the match between Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders in Kanpur on Thursday. It’ll be Gujarat’s first outing, at their second home, after the drubbing in Bangalore, but this time Suresh Raina will be back to lead the team. For Kolkata, who were reduced to 24 for 4 against Gujarat at Eden Gardens and went on to lose the match by five wickets, it will be a chance to make amends.

Key statistic

229 – The partnership between Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers is now the highest in Twenty20 cricket. The previous highest was an unbroken 215-run stand, also by the same two batsmen for Bangalore against Mumbai Indians last season – a batting bromance for the ages.