There is an air of confidence, even irreverence, to the way Shreyas Iyer walks out to the middle, holding the bat like it’s a weapon. That irreverence transcends to his batting too, as he leads the run-scoring chart for Delhi Daredevils after six games, ahead of bona fide stars like Yuvraj Singh, JP Duminy and Angelo Mathews. Iyer’s impressive start to the tournament continued on Thursday as he stroked his way to a brilliant 83 from 56 balls, helping mark the end of the Daredevils’ Kotla jinx by comprehensively outplaying Mumbai Indians by 37 runs.
He was the leading run-getter for Mumbai in his first domestic season, scoring 809 runs in this year’s Ranji trophy. He took Mumbai to the knockouts after a horrific start to their Ranji campaign. He then went for a whopping Rs 2.6 crores in his first IPL auction, making him the highest paid uncapped player. And now, he has dismantled the team from the city where he has played all his cricket till date. Oh, and he is just 20 years old.
As far as starts to professional careers go, that is pretty darn impressive. Welcome to the big time, Shreyas Santosh Iyer.
The Shreyas and Duminy show
Having been asked to bat by the visiting captain – yet again citing the unknown nature of the Kotla pitch – Delhi lost Mayank Agarwal in the third ball of the innings for his third successive score of 1. Agarwal’s plummeting form will force Delhi to rejig the balance of the team, with De Kock, CM Gautham and Manoj Tiwary all waiting for a chance. JP Duminy then survived two close shouts in quick succession, one for a caught behind, and one that fell just short of Rohit Sharma at mid-on, off a Malinga delivery that stopped on him.
Duminy had stated after the defeat against Kolkata – their eighth successive one at Kotla – that Delhi’s start with the bat had cost them the game. But, along with Iyer, he ensured that there were no hiccups this time as they put on 154 runs for the second wicket on their way to a total of 190. Duminy played some imperious strokes on his way to an unbeaten 78 which included 6 sixes. No tears were shed this time when Yuvraj came into bat with only two overs left in the innings.
But the first innings was all about young Shreyas. Just like in previous games this season, there were no half-hearted hits. If the ball was in his slot, he went for it, no holds barred. When McClenaghan tried to bounce him out, he played a forehand smash with both his feet off the ground and cleared the point boundary. When Harbhajan Singh tried to tease him with a few flighted ones, he swept him over midwicket with maximum impact and minimum fuss. When Jasprit Bumrah bowled a near-perfect yorker, he just steered it between the ‘keeper and short-third man. And when Kieron Pollard offered him full-toss freebies, he put them away with disdain, even with only one hand on the bat.
"I think he's bowled himself as much as Malinga has bowled him here,” was what Harsha Bhogle said when Iyer was finally dismissed, trying to play a cheeky sweep off a Malinga yorker. Say it in a whisper now, but there are shades of Virender Sehwag in this young man’s batting, right from playing fearless cricket to getting out to dismissals that makes you tear your hair apart. “Why would he play that shot when he is playing so well, aargh!” If Iyer remains grounded and continues to learn his trade with dedication from his long-time coach Praveen Amre and under Gary Kirsten’s tutelage, he will have a bright future.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager said, “Nobody has enough talent to live on talent alone. Even when you have talent, a life without work goes nowhere.”
Catches won the match for DD as Tahir and Mishra lead the way
Mumbai never really got going in the chase as the Daredevils kept picking up wickets in regular intervals. Duminy started off an excellent night on the field for the home team, running back to take a skier from Lendl Simmons. Tahir, who was again excellent with the ball claiming 3 wickets for 23, caught a blinder on the midwicket boundary to dismiss Parthiv Patel. And there were six more high-quality catches as Mumbai could manage only 153 in the overs. No one even managed to cross 30 for the away team who have now lost 5 of their 6 games.
Daredevils on the other hand, are sitting pretty, now up to fourth on the points table. Even their net-run rate got a boost last night and that could prove crucial at the business end of the tournament. For now they can look forward to two successive home games, with excitement rather than apprehension, as the Ghost of Kotla past has been banished.
Delhi Daredevils (190/4) beat Mumbai Indians (153/9) by 37 runs.
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He was the leading run-getter for Mumbai in his first domestic season, scoring 809 runs in this year’s Ranji trophy. He took Mumbai to the knockouts after a horrific start to their Ranji campaign. He then went for a whopping Rs 2.6 crores in his first IPL auction, making him the highest paid uncapped player. And now, he has dismantled the team from the city where he has played all his cricket till date. Oh, and he is just 20 years old.
As far as starts to professional careers go, that is pretty darn impressive. Welcome to the big time, Shreyas Santosh Iyer.
The Shreyas and Duminy show
Having been asked to bat by the visiting captain – yet again citing the unknown nature of the Kotla pitch – Delhi lost Mayank Agarwal in the third ball of the innings for his third successive score of 1. Agarwal’s plummeting form will force Delhi to rejig the balance of the team, with De Kock, CM Gautham and Manoj Tiwary all waiting for a chance. JP Duminy then survived two close shouts in quick succession, one for a caught behind, and one that fell just short of Rohit Sharma at mid-on, off a Malinga delivery that stopped on him.
Duminy had stated after the defeat against Kolkata – their eighth successive one at Kotla – that Delhi’s start with the bat had cost them the game. But, along with Iyer, he ensured that there were no hiccups this time as they put on 154 runs for the second wicket on their way to a total of 190. Duminy played some imperious strokes on his way to an unbeaten 78 which included 6 sixes. No tears were shed this time when Yuvraj came into bat with only two overs left in the innings.
But the first innings was all about young Shreyas. Just like in previous games this season, there were no half-hearted hits. If the ball was in his slot, he went for it, no holds barred. When McClenaghan tried to bounce him out, he played a forehand smash with both his feet off the ground and cleared the point boundary. When Harbhajan Singh tried to tease him with a few flighted ones, he swept him over midwicket with maximum impact and minimum fuss. When Jasprit Bumrah bowled a near-perfect yorker, he just steered it between the ‘keeper and short-third man. And when Kieron Pollard offered him full-toss freebies, he put them away with disdain, even with only one hand on the bat.
"I think he's bowled himself as much as Malinga has bowled him here,” was what Harsha Bhogle said when Iyer was finally dismissed, trying to play a cheeky sweep off a Malinga yorker. Say it in a whisper now, but there are shades of Virender Sehwag in this young man’s batting, right from playing fearless cricket to getting out to dismissals that makes you tear your hair apart. “Why would he play that shot when he is playing so well, aargh!” If Iyer remains grounded and continues to learn his trade with dedication from his long-time coach Praveen Amre and under Gary Kirsten’s tutelage, he will have a bright future.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager said, “Nobody has enough talent to live on talent alone. Even when you have talent, a life without work goes nowhere.”
Catches won the match for DD as Tahir and Mishra lead the way
Mumbai never really got going in the chase as the Daredevils kept picking up wickets in regular intervals. Duminy started off an excellent night on the field for the home team, running back to take a skier from Lendl Simmons. Tahir, who was again excellent with the ball claiming 3 wickets for 23, caught a blinder on the midwicket boundary to dismiss Parthiv Patel. And there were six more high-quality catches as Mumbai could manage only 153 in the overs. No one even managed to cross 30 for the away team who have now lost 5 of their 6 games.
Daredevils on the other hand, are sitting pretty, now up to fourth on the points table. Even their net-run rate got a boost last night and that could prove crucial at the business end of the tournament. For now they can look forward to two successive home games, with excitement rather than apprehension, as the Ghost of Kotla past has been banished.
Delhi Daredevils (190/4) beat Mumbai Indians (153/9) by 37 runs.
