There’s something about the IPL
When it comes to bilateral international matches, no one seems to care, but random people come up to me asking if I am doing commentary in IPL.
It’s amazing how this tournament has struck a chord with the Indian fans, and they don’t have to necessarily be cricket fans.
Just over a week now in IPL 18 and the first big takeaway for me is watching the performances of young players, fast-tracked to the biggest T20 league in the world.
This young talent could have played a handful of senior domestic matches but they come and dominate IPL like a top T20 international star would. It’s quite incredible actually.
Aniket Verma of Sunrisers Hyderabad had played just one Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match and mostly junior level matches until now, but he comes out and plays two innings of high quality on a big T20 stage. After an impressive debut (36 vs LSG) he follows that up with an innings vs DC (74), which has an all international attack that took our breath away.
He took apart both pace and spin, which included a convincing pull shot off Mitchell Starc and an attack on Axar Patel too. When Kuldeep Yadav came in to bowl, I sat up to see how he goes against a spinner who is a little different and much better than most spinners. As it turned out, he went on to do the same against Kuldeep Yadav too.
Nitish Kumar Reddy in Australia recently and now Aniket Verma are reminders of the depth of the Indian talent pool.
Nitish Kumar in Australia also was evidence of how a finished product from the Indian system looks like; compare that with Pakistan and you get the picture.
The Indian player comes with all the important facets of batting in place, apart from maybe the game against swing, which, without any fault of their own, can be found and practiced only in England and New Zealand.
Cricket is such a popular sport in India that every young kid with a sporting bent wants to become a cricketer, with fame and big money as reward at the end of a hard journey.
In other countries there would be 50 young players vying for one spot, in India it would be 500; naturally when you claim that spot you are bound to be exceptional.
Talent is everywhere
As for the teams where this talent resides, no one team this IPL has stood head and shoulders above the rest.
MI had a good win against KKR, their first win this season, and would be pleased that it was their bowlers who were the match winners.
RR led by interim captain Riyan Parag was impressive in their first win over CSK. Parag is an interesting one for me, his self-confidence is like no one I have seen. He went to Sandip Sharma to bowl the crucial 20th over. Guess who he had as an option? Yes, Jofra Archer. Right call in Indian conditions, but a difficult call considering the stature of Archer.
Mohammed Siraj is with GT now and I loved his mood when he turned up for them vs MI; he looked happy and relaxed, and like a man with a point to prove.
With Ashish Nehra around him, I see Siraj getting the right atmosphere to flourish and claim his place back in the Indian side.
While on GT there is something about Sai Sudharsan. He sets himself apart from the crowd — anyone who seems to be anchoring the innings but still goes at a strike rate of 140 is a special player.
The first week of IPL has also revealed how Nicholas Pooran, like AB de Villiers in his prime, looks like a batter from a different planet.
Two innings so far in this IPL: One was a 75 off 30 balls vs DC and the other 70 off 26. The batter of IPL so far by a fair distance but we wouldn’t know that from the media coverage we get of IPL.
CSK and Dhoni
Parting thought is more a thought of concern, it’s about CSK and their relationship with Dhoni; even their die-hard fans deep down know what’s happening because of that.
CSK of 10 years back would have won their last game against RR with two overs to spare. Why? Because Dhoni was 10 years younger. I will maintain this — even after three games in IPL if Dhoni is going to be taking the field at this very late stage of his career, he might as well be the captain.
His fitness levels and batting skills have clearly dwindled, and he knows it too, hence the late entry as batter in the innings.
His unbelievable cricketing brain and leadership skills are ageless, CSK must utilise and exploit that to the fullest. I just don’t see why they would not want to do this.
