2022.10.13 23:09

IPL 2022: Delhi issue a Brabourne ultimatum

Written by Abhishek PurohitUpdated: March 28, 2022 3:49:55 pm

Axar (and Lalit) stun the locals

From responding with ‘Mumbai jeetega’ [Mumbai will win] whenever the announcer exhorted them over the course of the afternoon, the Brabourne crowd was forced to admit ‘Dilli jeetega’ [Delhi will win] in the dying moments of the chase.

At 104 for 6 in the 14th over in pursuit of 178, a sense of inevitability had descended over proceedings but DC had a deep batting line-up, with Kamlesh Nagarkoti slotted at No 9. To his credit, Lalit had kept the match from totally slipping out of DC’s grasp with the odd boundary, and Shardul Thakur played his part with some furious swishing.

But the game-changer was Axar’s unbeaten 38 off 17. The first sign of his lovely touch was when, with 56 needed off the last five, he calmly lifted Jasprit Bumrah over long-on. Short straight boundary or whatever, that takes some doing on any ground. What zone Axar was in became clearer when the ball after being dropped off Basil Thampi at long-on, he lofted the same bowler past the same fielder Tim David for a boundary. MI tried denying him the pace and the fuller length, so he swatted Daniel Sams over deep backward square leg for six. Hitting is an under-rated aspect of Axar’s game, what with the white-ball run denial and the red-ball wicket deluge taking away most of the attention.

WHAT. A. CHASE. 🔥🔥@DelhiCapitals register their first victory of the season in style!

Scorecard – https://t.co/WRXqoHz83y#TATAIPL#DCvMIpic.twitter.com/prGmdPTAaN

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 27, 2022

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Axar would sometimes be caught out of position against the pacy fuller ones but he said that he has been working on holding his shape while going for the hits and also trying to react to the ball. “I was maintaining my shape,” Axar said. “When you see you have to get so many runs and only so many balls are left, you can start thinking that I should loft the ball there, or that I can hit the sweep. But I keep talking to (coach) Ricky (Ponting) and I have worked on staying in the moment, about seeing the ball and hitting the ball. So that is what I was trying to do.”

Pop and zip back for Kuldeep

In the last eight months, Kuldeep Yadav had played all of two games. In 2020, the last time he featured in the IPL, he had taken one wicket across the four innings he was given the ball. At an age where wrist-spinners are said to have begun to mature, he would be sitting on the bench or in the injury ward.

Bharat Arun, the former India bowling coach, had said earlier he wanted Kuldeep to work on having more energy through the crease. You can argue getting more game time is a crucial component of developing that energy, but it is also dependent on fitness and mindset. As Axar said, Kuldeep has more surety about his place in the playing XI at DC than he had at Kolkata Knight Riders, and that is helping him stay in a good mindset. On the day he has that zip in his load-up, Kuldeep usually makes things happen, and he did on Sunday afternoon at the Cricket Club of India.

With Kuldeep, the white-ball criticism goes that in addition to getting hit if he tosses it up too full, he does not have the pace to hurry the batsmen when he goes shorter, and they can sit back and whack as they want. On Sunday, he didn’t make it as straightforward for the MI batsmen to stand and swing their arms.

Kulde𝟑p Yadav in his element 💙

How good was that spell of wizardry?! ✨#YehHaiNayiDilli | #IPL2022 | #DCvMI#TATAIPL | #IPL | #DelhiCapitalspic.twitter.com/SHCKyHr8KC

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 27, 2022

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He dismissed Anmolpreet Singh with a 79.3 kph flighted wrong ‘un that the batsman mishit and sliced to long-off instead of going straighter. But the dismissals of Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard – the fielder Tim Seifert had a greater role in the latter with an incredible take – came off quicker deliveries that clocked 86.8 and 85.8 kph with the length pulled back a bit. In Rohit’s dismissal, the comparatively larger square boundary at CCI also weighed in, as did the pop Kuldeep was able to generate off the surface.

“The variation in pace was because I was in good rhythm,” Kuldeep said during the innings break after returning 4-0-18-3. “I have been working really hard. My lengths were good. I was varying my lengths as I knew batters can step out and play it easily here.”

Kishan carries Mumbai Indians

The most expensive player of this year’s IPL auction began the league with an unbeaten 81 off 48. With wickets falling regularly after his 67-run opening stand with captain Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan not only held the MI innings together, he also went along at a strike-rate of nearly 170. True to his strength, 31 of his runs came between deep square leg and deep midwicket, and DC did not help themselves by keeping just one deep fielder in that entire arc towards the end of the MI innings.

Describe Ishan’s innings with a मुंबई slang 🙌💙

We’ll start – चाबूक 😎#OneFamily#MumbaiIndians#दिलखोलके#DCvMI#TATAIPLpic.twitter.com/XPwwDpE9tx

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 27, 2022

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What Kishan has done well over the past couple of seasons is he has acquired other hitting zones in his arsenal. Some of his drives through extra cover were so dismissive they were almost brutal. He didn’t let the hit-me short and wide ones go unpunished – there were several from DC – and had some powerful strikes with the cut. In the past, he’d be a hesitant hitter down the ground, loath to lean forward into the stroke. He’d rather fall away and try to scythe the ball through extra cover. On Sunday, though, he played some punchy straight hits, although he also mishit a couple, but the short CCI straight boundary was an ally. He also did not suddenly get tied down during the middle of his knock, something he has tended to do earlier.

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