All eight teams have played in the Indian Premier League now, but the tournament has been stagnant. However, Tuesday’s match at the Chinnaswamy has provided the excitement that made the IPL the premier domestic T20 tournament. The partnership of 157 between RCB’s Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers was integral to that, but the tournament still needs to move up a few gears.
RCB Stars Spark Some Life Into IPL
The World T20 was a tough act to follow. 2016 was probably the best edition of the six such tournaments in history. Culminating in one of the greatest T20s ever, and with tight, varied contests throughout, the international tournament set the bar high. It was a reminder that international cricket remains the pinnacle for young players to aspire to.
And so the IPL began. Just six days after Carlos Brathwaite stunned England with four sixes in the final over. It would alway have been tough for the IPL to match that kind of drama. Barring the rousing onslaught by RCB’s imposing batting line-up, there has been little to cheer.
The tournament started with a dismal collapse by Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils followed the next game by out-collapsing them – not even crossing three figures. Both targets were chased in the fifteenth over. That’s like winning a test match in less than four days. Next, Kings XI Punjab’s overseas batsman failed to fire, resulting in another below-par target. This was chased in the eighteenth over. The required rate was under seven for most of the way.
The fourth match in Bangalore didn’t provide a close contest, but there was finally some batting thrills in the first innings. Royal Challengers have seemed long overdue a maiden IPL crown, due to their incredible top-three. Though Chris Gayle was dismissed early, RCB’s other top order batsmen – Kohli and de Villiers were brilliant. They were followed by the eighteen year-old Sarfaraz Khan, who displayed some dazzling late hitting.
It was everything the IPL was about. An Indian icon joining an overseas icon, who were then backed up by a raw Indian teenager. What makes the IPL special is its variety. Players of different overseas cultures join both established Indian internationals and lads who play under-nineteen cricket. In this case, they all batted differently too. Kohli hit the ball straight. De Villiers hit the ball square. Sarfaraz hit the ball behind square.
Kohli carried on his mesmeric form with his 75 off 51 balls, but it was a rare match in which he didn’t play his team’s best innings. He might even have been third best. De Villiers partnered him with a display of clean hitting, particularly over midwicket, en route to 82 off 42. Then came Sarfaraz. His performance was like kryptonite to the most successful death bowling ploy – yorkers.
He blitzed his way to 35 off just 10 balls. In the penultimate over he ramped three consecutive yorkers, going four-six-four. The six was a reverse ramp. He was taking on an proven international in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was bowling to a good strategy. But the teenager was just too good – IPL 9 appeared to have finally taken off.
Unfortunately, Sunrisers Hyderabad could not match RCB’s onslaught. David Warner excited with 58 off 25, but his team eventually fell 45 runs short. It’s easy to contrast their effort with England’s stunning chase of a similar target in last month’s World T20. The IPL just hasn’t hit those heights yet and one moment in the Sunrisers’ chase summed up the tournament to this point.
They required 76 from the remaining 19 balls. There was virtually no chance of Sunrisers successfully chasing the target. But it remains imperative for teams to keep fighting in this situation, to improve their net run-rate. The next ball Karn Sharma pummelled the ball towards Adam Milne at deep midwicket.
Milne slightly misjudged the catch – he was a few steps in from the boundary but ended up leaping to take it. The momentum carried him back, so he was forced to flick the ball back inside the boundary to prevent a six.
The result? A dot ball. The Sunrisers batsman didn’t even bother to run. Sharma and his partner Eoin Morgan missed out on at least two runs because they weren’t focussed. Even if the catch had been taken they wouldn’t have crossed – a cardinal sin in T20s. This type of sub-standard cricket has been all too prevalent in the 2016 IPL.
For one brief innings, RCB’s batsman exhibited the best aspects of the IPL. Explosive batting with contrasting methods from contrasting players. The cosmopolitan nature of the tournament will soon prevail and performances like this will become more frequent. It still didn’t yield a close game, but hopefully a last over thriller is imminent.
