RR trounces DD - Pravin Tambe [who?] makes his debut

To those of us following IPL is a bundle [of contradictions !] – you have Watson, Warner, Gayle, Pollard, Malinga, Mike & David Hussey, Miller  and host of foreign players; some young names unheard of have made a mark like … Jasbirsingh Bumrah, Hanumantha Vihari, Mohit Sharma…. Some have made comeback from ICL – Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, Rajagopalan Satish… there are host of spinners ~ Sunil Naraine, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajit Chandila, Ajantha Mendis, Sucharitha Senanayake; there are leg spinners like : Amit Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Karen Sharma………… there are youngsters from U19 like Unmukht Chand

Yesterday – when Delhi Daredevils played, this was the bowling analysis of Rajasthan Royals :

Shaun Tait                     : 3-0-39-0

James Faulkner             : 4-0-38-1

Shane Watson                : 3-0-21-1

Stuart Binny                  : 2-0-3-1

PV Tambe                       : 4-0-30-1

Sidharth Trivedi             : 4-0-21-1

Shaun Tait is fearsome pacer – leaked runs, bowled only 3; experienced Shane Watson bowled only 3 ……. Are you able to sight something new here !

         

IPL has also thrown out some players of whom lot was expected. MI’s richest buy Glenn Maxwell is yet to play a match ~ whether at all he gets a chance any time and would he make any impact is the Q ; then there is the Yusuf Pathan once touted to be a great hitter capable of turning the match – but made only one score of significance in this version.  Every time he comes in there is the expectation which soon vanishes as he trudges back sooner.  Forget a century, in three seasons and 39 innings, he is yet to score a fifty. Yusuf has not changed the course of any game for Knight Riders with his bat.

Then there are the oldies ~ some have been conquered or rather stooped by themselves – Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Sangakkara….  Sachin’s fans are struggling – not knowing whether to keep supporting him or get out of the stress of supporting him and finding him not making runs… yesterday it did not pour sixers but he did hit Ryan McLaren for five successive fours in the fourth over and then came the unusual break – arising out of darkness. 

Eoin Morgan exhibited a great piece of fielding – Rohit Sharma lofted at midwicket boundary Morgan set himself under the ball, at the edge of the field, caught it, saw he was going to go over with the momentum, coolly lobbed the ball up in the air, stepped out, came back, took it. The umpires didn't even need to look at the replay.

You will find details of the good partnership between the oldie Rahul Dravid and [the man not considered right for T20] Ajinkya Rahane. At Sawai Man singh stadium, RR beat DD  - a nine-wicket thrashing with 13 balls to spare. The win took their tally to 16 points in 12 matches and to the third spot. Delhi managed to put up a decent 154 for four after electing to bat first.

Now getting back to the Q at the start – sure you would have read Tambe bowling 4 overs……. He is a leg-spinner, who made his debut. Pravin Vijay Tambe is totally unknown stock and was a surprise element ~  he hasn't played any form of top-level domestic cricket~ and to add to the surprise is 41 years and 212 days old having been born on Oct 8, 1971…………..

Was that a strategy !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

Photo courtesy : BCCI.