IPL 6: PWI v/s RCB - Quick Flicks

I’m surprised at the Pune Warriors India. They have basically done everything wrong in the last 9 games they played. Losing from good positions, relying on individual bits of brilliance to secure wins, incorrect selections, no backup plan in place – all of these combined to send them hurtling towards yet another loss against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. They do everything right for most of the game, and then simply lose it all. Before I let loose a vitriolic tirade and lose my train of thought, here are some snapshots of tonight’s game:

Tiwary Comes of Age

Young Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary finally had a reason to be in the limelight other than being labelled as a Dhoni clone. The left-hander played a steady innings at the top of the order, stitching together two good partnerships with the buccaneering Chris Gayle and the aggressive skipper Virat Kohli. His 52 off 45 balls laid the platform for the final assault. If MSD was watching this game, he might have had tears in his eyes just by seeing the way his performed tonight.

The de Villiers-Henriques Show: Carnage By Angels

AB de Villiers and Moises Henriques make for an interesting combination when it comes to smashing bowlers all over the park. Either the Aussie has been learning from the SA T20 specialist, or he was just eager to prove himself to be senior pro. Nevertheless, the duo whacked the stuffing out of the Pune bowlers by raising hell with their blazing 29-ball, 68-run stand towards the end of the RCB innings. AB should really be ‘banned’ from playing in the IPL – he makes the bowlers cry every single time. And those 27 runs he struck off Ashok Dinda proved to be the turning point.

Uthappa On Fire

Robin Uthappa, my perennial favourite, almost single-handedly took his side home tonight. Continuing the trend of former players performing well against their previous teams, the Karnataka lad went on a six-hitting spree against the Men in Red. In the company of former captain Angelo Mathews, Robbie put all the bowlers to the sword – even the great Muttiah Muralitharan wasn’t spared. If not for a mad rush of blood, it would have been a fine victory.

Yuvraj Singh – High on Style, Low on Performance

Pune’s former skipper hasn’t been on song this time around. Cancer’s in remission, the captaincy burden has been removed, so what is stopping the Punjab puttar from playing freely? What happened to that young man whose calm, rational approach to chasing big targets made him extremely dangerous? If Pune have to finish their league engagements with their heads held high, then they must enforce the Hero Honda ad from long before - Yuvi ka saara style nikaal djo exercise kara ke! A bottle of Revital wouldn’t hurt, either.

Ashok Dinda – The Headless Chicken

Jumping like a monkey before sending down a delivery is not going to fetch you wickets at the death, Dinda babu. Hasn’t Allan Donald taught you anything? You insist on bowling full tosses right at the point where the batters are looking to send everything into orbit. You’re seriously like a headless chicken at the death – you haven’t yet grasped the simple matter of keeping it full and not allowing the batsmen to free their arms. Never have I seen such shoddy bowling. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is capable of handling the pace attack alone – your services, Ashok da, are no longer needed.

Finch’s Baffling Strategies

A side that has a captain with the last name of Finch is bound to suffer. A finch is a bird not particularly known for its intelligence. The Aussie batsman has, unfortunately, lived up to his name. His strategies have set alarm bells ringing in his own camp. Why give a wayward Dinda the last over when your best bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has done well in that role? What is the point of you opening the innings when you are clearly struggling to score runs? And why bench Mitchell Marsh when he has been the lone bright star in your shoddy campaign? Sorry Mr. Finch, but you’re not an effective captain.