BaDhoni ‘style, wrapped up with a 6
Five runs off five balls, and in walked Ayush Badoni, wearing a grim face. The first ball he faces: He coolly leaves, as though unfazed by the pressure. The target is quite achievable, but pressure could heat up the coolest of nerves. But not those of Badoni. He creams the next ball, an intended yorker that turned out to be a low full-toss, through cover, past a diving extra-cover and a long-off.
And then shrugs his shoulders, as if to suggest that there was no fuss. All they needed was just a single, but nudging a single is not the way golden-armed finishers wrap up their business. So Badoni cuffs the next ball over cover for a six. Cool and simple. Dhoni style, young Badoni.
Sandip G
Pant’s prophecy; Kuldeep’s frown upturned
To console a sulking Kuldeep Yadav, just hacked for a brace of boundaries by Quinton de Kock, Rishabh Pant shouted words of encouragement before the last ball of the over: “Koi baat nahi, koi baat nahi Kullu, is ball mein wicket milega.” The words had no effect on Kuldeep’s morale. But Pant’s words turned out to be prophetic. Kuldeep flung the ball a tad wide, making Quinny stretch for the ball.
The away-turn made it even wider. De Kock heaved an almighty heave, just backing away a bit, but the ball was so far away from the body that he ended up miscuing the ball to short third man. In the space of a ball, the mood of Yadav, who had taken up the over from Andre Nortje after he was sent off for bowling two beamers, changed from agony to ecstasy. Steadily, Delhi clawed back into the game, though their comeback came too late.
Sandip G
Captain =/ keepers: Venn (diagram) in doubt
From the perspective of reviews, a wicket-keeper who happens to be a captain could at times be counterproductive. Keepers are often impetuous (and instinctive) DRS-seekers, and when they are vested with the sole sovereignty to decide, they tend to go berserk. As Rishabh Pant was, wasting both reviews ludicrously. First was when Quinton de Kock’s intended reverse sweep ballooned off his gloves.
Pant hared to pocket the catch, along with David Warner at slips. Even the bowler, Kuldeep Yadav, had not appealed vociferously for the lbw. But after the catch fell short of Warner, Pant, after a fleeting consultation with Kuldeep, reviewed. It took the third umpire just 30 seconds and just one replay to uphold the field umpire’s decision. The second instance was equally bizarre when off-spinner Lalit Yadav made one hold back its line a bit. But the ball was missing the leg-stump by a fair bit, and another review was quickly dispelled. Maybe, it was the desperation for wickets, but both were DRS howlers.
Sandip G
Prithvi ‘why bother with running second’ Shaw
In boundary-flaying mood, Prithvi Shaw was in no mood for stealing doubles. After cudgeling Avesh Khan for a hat-trick of boundaries, he mistimed a pull to the right of the fine-leg fielder. The latter had to cover some ground to collect the ball and it seemed Shaw and Warner would smuggle a double. But Shaw had no such intention.
He ambled for the first run, and even before he was three-quarters to the non-striker’s end, he signalled Warner, without even looking at the fielder or turning back at Warner, that he was not running the second. Warner, who was off his blocks for the second run in a jiffy, wore a bemused smile, Shaw flashed a sheepish one. Shaw might be reasoning: “Why bother running when you could strike boundaries!” Sheer waste of boundary-hitting energy!
Sandip G
Scream of agony!
As soon as he got out, edging an attempted cut off a well-outside off delivery from the off spinner K Gowtham, Prithvi Shaw turned and walked away quickly. A few steps down, it must have sunk in him that he has thrown away a great start against quite ordinary bowling for he suddenly put his head down and screamed. After giving away two successive boundaries, Gowtham shifted his line to round the stumps and bowled the cross-seam slider well outside off.
Shaw just couldn’t help himself from having a go. Until then, he was on a whirlwind big bash, slamming anything bowled at him. Pulls, cuts, lofted hits though there was this one incident where he resembled Jackie Chan in Drunken Master. Gowtham again with a slider outside off and Shaw almost wobbled away, reaching out with just his hands, like Chan would try to grapple an opponent for support in the movie, and only edged it. But so quick it all happened that Jason Holder at first slip seemed dazed and yanked and ducked his head away from the ball, lest it break his teeth.
Sriram Veera
Disarming smile & armed guile
Ravi Bishnoi is 21, looks 16. He wears shoes that are baby pink, a shade more suited for the chu chu whistling footwear that toddlers love. When praised he hangs his tongue out in embarrassment. If his captain gives him a stare, he looks like a child caught with his hand stuck in a sugar jar. And it is this persona that gives the sly leggie a layer of deception.
Though he might look like one, Bishnoi is not a little boy straying on field during Daddy’s corporate cricket game. Against him today was Rovman Powell, the big burly Jamaican known for his brutal strokes that intimidate most bowlers. Bishnoi isn’t one of them. He threw up a wrong ‘un that spun like a super-sonic top with wings. The extra revolutions made the ball hang in air that much longer and fall wee bit shorter, Powell’s mighty heave merely disturbed the air around the crease. The ball hit the stumps and the boy with chu chu whistling footwear jumped in joy.
Sandeep Dwivedi
When Pant was kept quiet for one whole over
What’s the odds of keeping Rishabh Pant quiet for an entire over? Krishnappa Gowtham earned the boasting rights by bowling out a maiden over to Pant. He started with two quick armers from round the stumps and Pant missed the first and barely managed to chop the next one away from stumps. Gowtham slowed the pace on the third and Pant tapped it away.
Another slower full delivery followed, and Pant mistimed and edged it away. Gowtham completed the full circle with two quick armers and Pant just about managed to keep the last one from the stumps; in fact he had to knock it away after the edge threatened to take the ball towards the stumps. The slider is always a good ball to bowl to Pant, who for some reason most often than not tries the cut shot despite its length and line, and gets into a tangle many a time.
Sriram Veera
Just not your day, Nortje
Couple of weeks ago, Delhi Capitals released a video of Anrich Nortje. He is seen flipping through his phone with the screen showing queries from fans asking updates about his injury. In the end, he looks up at the camera, repeats a question from a fan, ‘Nortje kahan hai?’, and answers it with ‘Nortje yaha(n) hai!’. Social media promotion is one thing, bowling to Quinton de Kock is another thing altogether after not playing competitive cricket for five months after a persistent hip issue. He didn’t even feature in India’s tour of South Africa.
His comeback game didn’t get off to a great start as Quinton de Kock crashed him for a hat-trick of fours and a six off the fifth ball. Rusty perhaps, nerves may be, but it was all quite gentle really. Three full balls on the off stump line were driven away without much fuss. And the unsurprising short ball was disposed over leg-side boundary. Nortje, with a 70’s Telugu-film star moustache, winced as he trudged away at end of the over.
Sriram Veera
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