For a while during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chase, you wished Rajasthan Royals had scored more than the paltry 130 they finished with. For a while, all this madness – IPL, franchises, Twenty20 – everything faded into oblivion. There was just the sheer, wild pleasure of watching Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers bat in tandem with each other and nothing else.
It was ecstatic, to say the least. Two of the best batsmen in world cricket, running the singles and the two’s, toying with the fielders. Effortlessly, picking up the lengths and dispatching it wherever they wished, with exquisite timing. Right there then, was the biggest selling point of the IPL: where else would you see ABD and Kohli play together competitively?
It ended far too soon. But, despite our complaints, Kohli and RCB will gladly take it.
The perfect game
Where were you, Bengaluru?
If there ever was a perfect performance for RCB, this was it. Virat Kohli has been roundly criticised for a lot of his tactics – but he was right on the block on Friday night. Truth be told, he wasn’t bad in the last game against Chennai, but this time, he was outstanding.
First, he finally picked the perfect team. Gayle slotted back into the team and came out to open. The inclusion of David Wiese proved perfect – Wiese takes the pace off the ball and is difficult to get away. Finally, it is good to see Kohli continuing to pick Iqbal Abdullah after leaving him out in the initial few matches – it indicates that Kohli is not a stubborn captain and he is willing to change things when they’re not working for him.
He marshalled his bowling resources superbly. He took Starc off after two fierce overs and did not hesitate to bring in Chahal, even before the mandatory powerplay had ended. Chahal proved that the faith wasn’t misplaced, holding his own to take Watson out after being hit for a four and a massive six. He finished with 2/25, deservedly becoming the 5th highest wicket taker in the IPL so far.
But, by far, Kohli’s best call was to slot De Villiers at No. 3. When De Villiers walked in, he had something which he hadn’t had in the last few matches: time. Time to dictate proceedings. With Kohli at the other end, it was an exhibition of batting prowess. One over particularly stood out: in the 13th over, Kohli came down the track to Faulkner, flat-batting a straight drive to the sightscreen for six. Brilliant to watch.
Then, just to prove that he was as good, if not better, De Villiers skipped down the track and played his own trademark straight drive, in the 5th ball of the over. This was a full delivery, which he almost swept off his feet, using his trademark bat speed to generate the power. Different from Kohli, but just as classy. This was batting nirvana.
Have RCB regained some momentum?
With each team playing 14 games each, momentum has become the buzzword of the IPL and this is the kind of win that can give the boys from Bengaluru just the kind of momentum they want to turn this IPL around.
It started off decently enough with a win over Kolkata, but then went steadily downhill. A lot of it could be blamed on factors like poor selections, Starc’s unavailability and issues with the batting order.
But, things seem to be improving. Starc might not be picking up wickets but he is effective and getting better with every game. It’s worth remembering that he’s coming back from an injury so he will take his time until he goes full-steam, but it doesn’t look like it’ll take too long.
More importantly, the other problems seem to be getting fixed. Chahal is improving by leaps and bounds, while Abdullah is bowling cannily. David Wiese is a good pick; his bowling has that ability to frustrate a batsman into going for a big shot. Additionally, he can also bat.
This is the top three which RCB should employ, barring any injuries. Let Gayle play his natural game; he’ll go bust most times but on the rare day he goes boom, he’ll win it single-handedly. Kohli and De Villiers should ideally play the most number of overs which is exactly what happened today.
Kohli though has enough reasons to be optimistic: RCB defeated a team which was sitting pretty at the top of the points table. They weren’t expected to win, but they comprehensively defeated Rajasthan. It’s the kind of victory which can turn a campaign around. Let’s hope it happens for Bangalore.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
It was ecstatic, to say the least. Two of the best batsmen in world cricket, running the singles and the two’s, toying with the fielders. Effortlessly, picking up the lengths and dispatching it wherever they wished, with exquisite timing. Right there then, was the biggest selling point of the IPL: where else would you see ABD and Kohli play together competitively?
It ended far too soon. But, despite our complaints, Kohli and RCB will gladly take it.
The perfect game
Where were you, Bengaluru?
If there ever was a perfect performance for RCB, this was it. Virat Kohli has been roundly criticised for a lot of his tactics – but he was right on the block on Friday night. Truth be told, he wasn’t bad in the last game against Chennai, but this time, he was outstanding.
First, he finally picked the perfect team. Gayle slotted back into the team and came out to open. The inclusion of David Wiese proved perfect – Wiese takes the pace off the ball and is difficult to get away. Finally, it is good to see Kohli continuing to pick Iqbal Abdullah after leaving him out in the initial few matches – it indicates that Kohli is not a stubborn captain and he is willing to change things when they’re not working for him.
He marshalled his bowling resources superbly. He took Starc off after two fierce overs and did not hesitate to bring in Chahal, even before the mandatory powerplay had ended. Chahal proved that the faith wasn’t misplaced, holding his own to take Watson out after being hit for a four and a massive six. He finished with 2/25, deservedly becoming the 5th highest wicket taker in the IPL so far.
But, by far, Kohli’s best call was to slot De Villiers at No. 3. When De Villiers walked in, he had something which he hadn’t had in the last few matches: time. Time to dictate proceedings. With Kohli at the other end, it was an exhibition of batting prowess. One over particularly stood out: in the 13th over, Kohli came down the track to Faulkner, flat-batting a straight drive to the sightscreen for six. Brilliant to watch.
Then, just to prove that he was as good, if not better, De Villiers skipped down the track and played his own trademark straight drive, in the 5th ball of the over. This was a full delivery, which he almost swept off his feet, using his trademark bat speed to generate the power. Different from Kohli, but just as classy. This was batting nirvana.
Have RCB regained some momentum?
With each team playing 14 games each, momentum has become the buzzword of the IPL and this is the kind of win that can give the boys from Bengaluru just the kind of momentum they want to turn this IPL around.
It started off decently enough with a win over Kolkata, but then went steadily downhill. A lot of it could be blamed on factors like poor selections, Starc’s unavailability and issues with the batting order.
But, things seem to be improving. Starc might not be picking up wickets but he is effective and getting better with every game. It’s worth remembering that he’s coming back from an injury so he will take his time until he goes full-steam, but it doesn’t look like it’ll take too long.
More importantly, the other problems seem to be getting fixed. Chahal is improving by leaps and bounds, while Abdullah is bowling cannily. David Wiese is a good pick; his bowling has that ability to frustrate a batsman into going for a big shot. Additionally, he can also bat.
This is the top three which RCB should employ, barring any injuries. Let Gayle play his natural game; he’ll go bust most times but on the rare day he goes boom, he’ll win it single-handedly. Kohli and De Villiers should ideally play the most number of overs which is exactly what happened today.
Kohli though has enough reasons to be optimistic: RCB defeated a team which was sitting pretty at the top of the points table. They weren’t expected to win, but they comprehensively defeated Rajasthan. It’s the kind of victory which can turn a campaign around. Let’s hope it happens for Bangalore.