I like to think that cricket has made me more of a morning
person. Spring has sprung. I now wake up knowing where I am, where I left my
keys, and - roughly - what day of the week it is. I can see, and the majority
of my limbs work when I ask them to. However, there's one week of the cricket
season that always throws me off. It's a strange sort of limbo, where it's
spring but not spring. The daffodils are blooming but the legions of fans have
not descended on county grounds all over the country yet. I am, of course, talking
about the first week of the IPL. Now, of course, we're well past that - the
county season has started in earnest and the sound of leather on willow echoes
throughout England - but it doesn't change the fact that for a week, the only
cricket I've been able to follow is the IPL. Eight teams duking it out in
various degrees of competency for two months whilst cheerleaders cavort on the
sidelines. Purists scoff, young people love it, but despite what people may
think of the IPL, it does at least offer some compelling cricket; compelling
enough to cause me to blow off work for the day and write this piece about how
the eight teams are shaping up after the first full week of this year's
tournament wraps up.
Delhi Daredevils – W1 L1
If someone were to write a tabloid headline about Delhi's
first match in this IPL, it would go along the lines of 'PANT NOT PANTS AFTER
ALL'. That or some shit about Chris Morris. These were the only two positives
for the Daredevils that I could see. Morris took 3/21 against a depleted Royal
Challengers side that on any other day would include Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul
and AB de Villiers, and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant hit a swashbuckling 57 from
36 balls against a depleted Royal Challengers side that on any other day would
include Mitchell Starc. That's not to say that there isn't potential in this
Delhi side - when I saw the rosters before the season started, I felt
incredibly optimistic about the Daredevils. I thought to myself, "surely a
side that includes de Kock, Rabada, Duminy and Angelo Mathews will be
competitive in the IPL!". Opening day came around for Delhi, and boy was I
about to be disappointed. No de Kock. No Rabada. No Duminy. No Mathews. Even
then, there were some exciting names in the Delhi line-up - Pat Cummins, Sam
Billings, Carlos Brathwaite. Maybe they'd be good after all! No. Billings 25,
Brathwaite 1, Cummins 1/29. Disappointing... or so I thought. Until they played
Pune. Until Sanju Samson hit an unbelievable century (102 from 63). Until their
bowlers managed to restrict the Supergiants to 108. Then I realised what the
Daredevils were: they were that crochety old uncle who sleeps for most of the
day in a battered armchair, only to suddenly wake up and roar obscenities for a
while. The first match was a snooze – the second, a roar.
One to watch: Rishabh Pant
Gujarat Lions - W0 L2
It's strange how a team with this many good players can be
this shit. Bravo, Faulkner, Finch, McCullum, Jadeja, Raina - these are not shit
players. These are some of the most experienced, penetrative, fear-inspiring
T20 players in the world. But put them in a Gujarat kit and they become
completely inept. When their batting works - as it did in their first match
against Kolkata - their bowling takes a nice group stroll straight off a cliff.
That match ended with a fantastic haul of 0 wickets between six bowlers,
conceding 184 runs and losing the game despite the platform laid primarily by
Raina (68*) and Karthik (47). The second match, against defending champions
Sunrisers Hyderabad, was a mixture of ineptitude and what appeared to be
sleepwalking - McCullum especially looked unconscious as he was trapped LBW for
5 by an eighteen-year-old from Afghanistan. Their bowling, a source of endless schadenfreude
in the previous game, delivered much the same performance, but took one more
wicket for their troubles, bringing the Lions' wicket tally so far to... one.
Definitely in contention for the wooden spoon this year, which would make a
nice change from seeing Kings XI finishing stone dead last.
One to watch: Suresh Raina
Kings XI Punjab - W2 L0
Speaking of Kings XI, what a transformation this has been.
The core from last year remains, but what is different is that the players all
seem to be playing well. Kings XI have a mix of useful Indian talent and some
big international names but - the million-dollar man Glenn Maxwell excluded -
no-one who has made a real name for themselves as a T20 specialist. Hashim Amla
is opening the batting, for Christ's sake. Not exactly the epitome of quick hitting,
but the point isn't that he's predominantly a Test batsman - the point is that
he's batting well for KXIP right now. The same goes for Glenn Maxwell, David
Miller, Manan Vohra - each of these batsmen has hit over 30 in an innings and
provided a nice cushion for two low-scoring matches. The bowling too has been
handy but unspectacular - even Varun Aaron, who was (let's be honest) quite
poor for RCB last year. Special attention should be paid to Axar Patel, who
managed to concede only twelve runs from his four overs, opening the bowling,
with left-arm spin, against Shane Watson. Oh, and took Watson's wicket. And hit
a handy 24 in the previous match. It'll be nice to see Kings XI Punjab not
finishing last for once.
One to watch: Axar Patel
Kolkata Knight Riders - W1 L1
I'll make it clear upfront: I don't much like Kolkata Knight
Riders. I'm not a fan of Sunil Narine, I think that Gautam Gambhir is the
grumpiest man in the world, and I can't say I much care for Yusuf Pathan. Oh,
and I think that Eden Gardens is the worst ground in the world. That being
said, even I can't help but be impressed by a team that chases 183 without
losing a single wicket. Even I can't help but be impressed by this year's
biggest T20 talent - yes, Lynnsanity has come to the IPL and I am a fan. 93*
from 41 balls? That's batting, mate. The problem I can see with the Knight
Riders is that they let a team like the Lions get to 183 in the first place.
The Lions are not without big names and big talents, but the strength of KKR
has always been their bowling. Bowlers like Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Trent
Boult and Chris Woakes can go toe-to-toe with the likes of McCullum and Raina
on their best day. Maybe this just wasn't their best day, but for a bowler like
Boult to go for 10 per over? For Narine to go wicketless? It makes one think
whether KKR have been studying last year's Sunrisers tapes just a little too
hard. They've built up a batting line-up that can potentially post 200+ targets
at grounds like the Chinnaswamy, but somewhere like Eden Gardens, where the
Knight Riders make their home, there's not going to be the opportunity to
stretch out an innings that big. They need to get accustomed to defending 150,
and if they can't defend 178 (against Mumbai Indians, where only Manish Pandey
made over 35 and again their three big bowlers underperformed), what chance do
they have?
One to watch: Chris Lynn
Mumbai Indians - W1 L1
Two years ago, Mumbai Indians won the IPL, and this side -
at first glance, at least - doesn't appear to be a whole lot different. For a
start, Harbhajan Singh is still there (possibly because he's been nailed to the
floor and is unable to leave). Rohit Sharma still captains the side. Jasprit
Bumrah still runs in like a demented windmill in Mumbai blue. Lasith Malinga
still dip-dyes his hair in the Wankhede bathrooms. Keiron Pollard has convinced
the Mumbai Indians' owners that he's 'still in form, honest'. The bones of the
Indians are the same as they were two years ago, but the big performers are
different. Hardik Pandya and Jos Buttler top-scored against the Supergiants,
with Nitish Rana not far behind. Pandya then took a wicket. Nitish Rana hit 50
against an out-of-form KKR bowling line-up. Krunal Pandya, brother of Hardik,
took 3/24 against a Knight Riders batting line-up that chased 183 without
losing a wicket. The new blood of the Mumbai Indians are stepping up and
performing where players like Pollard, Sharma and Singh simply are not. This
isn't a side that'll win the IPL this year, but maybe, just maybe, if they keep
these new bones, they'll do it in a year or two.
One to watch: Nitish Rana
Rising Pune Supergiants - W1 L2
Dhoni. Smith. Tahir. Stokes. Some of the biggest names in
world cricket currently wear the weird purple-pink-red-yellow kaleidoscopic kit
of the Rising Pune Supergiants, but somehow these huge talents - and the huge
money backing them, thanks to the attraction of MS Dhoni - have performed
completely averagely thus far. Having won their first match in the closest
possible terms - a six hit from the second-to-last ball of the innings sealing
victory - they lost their second in slightly less tense circumstances (Kings XI
only requiring nineteen of their twenty overs to win the game). A couple of the
big names chipped in (Stokes 50 vs KXIP, Smith 84* vs MI, Tahir 3/28 vs MI and
2/29 vs KXIP), but the biggest name of all is still waiting to fire, having not
scored above 25 in either match. Smith was out for the third match, against a
Delhi Daredevils yet to prove themselves in this year’s tournament. With Faf du
Plessis as a more-than-able replacement, they should have seized the chance.
Instead, they capitulated. Bowled out for 108, and conceding the first century
of the IPL this year. They strike me as a team that will consistently
underperform when compared with their powerful roster, but maybe that has
something to do with the fact that the talisman, Ravi Ashwin, is yet to play a
game for the Supergiants. Either that they've been temporarily blinded by their
own shirts.
One to watch: Imran Tahir
Royal Challengers Bangalore - W1 L2
Where do we start with the Royal Challengers? Maybe with
their high-profile injuries - Virat Kohli, Mitchell Starc and Lokesh Rahul all
missing - or maybe with the fact that they seem eternally condemned to be the
bridesmaid and never the bride. Even in last year's final, when the mighty
Chris Gayle hit 76 and captain Kohli scored 74, they missed out on the title
due to an uncharacteristically high-scoring Sunrisers Hyderabad. The losing
team score in that match was 200/7, which might say more about how the
big-hitting game of T20 has progressed throughout the years than it does about
the fate of RCB, but it does at least put a huge flashing neon sign in front of
RCB's perceived perpetual bad luck. The first match they played this year had
very loud, shouty echoes of last year's final - not only were the Challengers
playing their adversaries from that match, but Sunrisers Hyderabad only posted
one less run than they did in the last match in 2016. However, without Kohli,
Rahul and a (temporarily unavailable) AB de Villiers, RCB could only muster 172
all out in defence. Granted, their fates improved in the next match, but
weirdly it was their bowling and not their batting that saved them, restricting
Delhi Daredevils to 142 as they defended a paltry 157. The next game promised
entertainment with the arrival of the aforementioned de Villiers, who
bludgeoned 89*. Unfortunately, as is often the case with RCB, the rest of the
batsmen - with the exception of a handy, if slow, cameo from Mandeep Singh -
played like they had woken up with no arms. The bowling was inoffensive in
reply, only taking two wickets as Kings XI cruised to victory on the back of
Hashim Amla. Unfortunately, with three key players sidelined for the rest of
the tournament, and Chris Gayle's legs not working, on top of bowling that
seems to be as accurate and penetrative as a dead monk flung from a moving car,
I can't see a way back for Royal Challengers this year.
One to watch: for sheer entertainment value, AB de Villiers
Sunrisers Hyderabad - W2 L0
Let's get one thing clear - this is no longer a Hyderabad
team who can only bowl, who defend low totals with incredible wicket-taking and
staggering economy. No, this is a team with David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan at
the top of the order. It's a team with a rejuvenated and hungry Yuvraj Singh in
the middle order. This, my friends, is a team that can bat. They demonstrated
this in last year's final, hitting 208 to win the title. They showed similar
drive in the first match of this season, clubbing 207 thanks mostly to Yuvraj (62)
and an in-form Moises Henriques (52). They chased down a small total set by
Gujarat Lions in just over fifteen overs due to the power of David Warner (76*)
and - again - Henriques (weirdly, 52* again). That isn't to say that this
year's Sunrisers can't bowl - more that they don't really need to. That being
said, they appear to have made the smartest purchase of any IPL team in the
auction in the shape of eighteen-year-old Rashid Khan from Afghanistan. Against
the Lions, he took 3/19, and against RCB he claimed 2/36. And these were not
no-name batsmen. Three of his scalps include Brendan McCullum, Suresh Raina and
Aaron Finch. These are three of the best T20 players in history, and Khan had
them for breakfast. I was sceptical at the start of the season when all
Hyderabad seemed to buy at auction was two Afghan bowlers and a 44-year-old
(the incredible Pravin Tambe, proving that age is no obstacle if one really
hankers for a professional sports career), but boy am I glad to have been
proved wrong. This is a Hyderabad side that can not only defend their title,
but entertain everyone while they do it.
One to watch: Rashid Khan
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