Opinion Different strokes
During the Bangalore vs Delhi game,Jasprit Bumrah was making his debut. It was perhaps anxiety as the bowler banged in three short balls to Virat Kohli
During the Bangalore vs Delhi game,Jasprit Bumrah was making his debut. It was perhaps anxiety as the bowler banged in three short balls to Virat Kohli,all of which were punished. Mayank Aggarwal,who had watched from the other end,must have had his mind made up. Bumrah to Aggarwal,short,but punched straight to mid-off. Similarly,when Aggarwal faced Dale Steyn against Sunrisers,he scooped it to the same fielder. On Thursday,he edged a short,wide ball to the keeper against KKR. Aggarwal has played 28 IPL games,managing just one fifty with his average a shade over 18.
After the game against Kolkata,RCB tain Kohli said the opposition should be more wary of Chris Gayle shouldering his arms than when he is hitting a six. While it would be easy to get carried away watching the likes of Gayle,Kohli and AB de Villiers,for the likes of Mayank,who has been around for a while now,it is important to realise that there is another school of batsmanship.
The likes of Sangakkara, Jayawardene,Kallis,Dravid and David Hussey are equally effective for their respective teams,often waiting for deliveries and driving them through the gap between mid off and covers,or the corresponding gap on the leg side. The youngsters,however,seem to bank on clearing these fielders,often getting out in the process. Akshath Reddy against RCB and Delhi,Hanuma Vihari against Delhi,all perished the same way. Unmukt Chand got out trying to premeditate a dab off Harbhajan on the leg side only to get a leading edge to Ponting. Another youngster Mandeep Singh,on a Jaipur wicket with bounce,threw his bat at a seeming delivery,getting a thick edge to third man.
While the temptation to be aggressive every ball is overwhelming,the youngsters can perhaps learn not to depend too much on the heaviness of the willow and instead improve their short selection and patience. Even in the shortest format,it takes just one ball for a batsman to lose his wicket.
(Siddhartha is a correspondent based in New Delhi.)
siddhartha.sharma@expressindia.com
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