Sports

‘Yuvraj Singh lite’ at it again, CSK top order play it safe, and SRH unleash slower-ball onslaught

April 6, 2024
S K Mittal

Chennai Super Kings’ batting ethos largely focus on taking the game forward, where strike-rate takes precedence over others. Despite the batting order given the freedom to go out on the attack, one of the stand-out features of their approach is how they don’t blindly slog. Instead of going for the conventional horizontal bat shots, Chennai’s batting line-up has preferred to mostly hit on the V unless the length forces them to. It means there is less risk element and there is more value for it, especially on flat decks. This was once again to the forefront in Chennai’s innings in the powerplay, where Ajinkya Rahane and Ruturaj Gaikwad preferred scoring in the V. The eye-catching shots were the ones played by Rahane off Pat Cummins and Gaikwad off Bhuvneshwar Kumar – both just an extension of their hands, which resulted in the ball soaring over the boundary ropes.

Yuvraj lite lights up CSK

Yuvraj Singh lite package, it’s how Ravichandran Ashwin described the batting style of Shivam Dube. “I’m not asserting he’s identical to Yuvraj Singh, but he strongly reminds me of him,” he had said. Kevin Pietersen too could find similar notes: “There’s a lot of Yuvraj Singh about CSK’s Shivam Dube.” There are clear similarities—the height, reach, bat-swing especially the down-swing, and the aggressive disposition. Yuvraj, though, had more strokes, panache, and an exceptional range of strokes both sides off the wicket. Dube is not as gifted but is as proficient a destroyer of spin bowling you could come across. Ashwin calls him a spin-hitting monster. He displayed that against SRH spinner Mayank Markande, who was slugged on one knee. It’s a staple of most batsmen from the subcontinent, but he makes it look ridiculously simple. He then whipped up some serious Yuvraj-nostalgia with a leg-side destruction of T Natarajan. He smeared him for two successive sixes, the first a swivel pull instilled with Yuvraj-like flair, and then a thump clearing the front-leg with a flourish made in cricketing heaven. Not a Yuvraj clone, but Yuvraj lite definitely.

Festival of slower balls

On a slow, at times turgid surface, Sunrisers Hyderabad seamers produced a festival of slower balls. There were all sorts, the bouncer, the off-cutter, the back-of-the-hand variation, and the leg-cutter, mostly back-of-length. It began with a deceptively disguised slower-ball bouncer to nail Shivam Dube. In the next over, a slow off-cutter from Jaydev Unadkat foxed Ajinkya Rahane, who abhors slow wickets and slower balls. Unadkat really relished the pitch. Five of his six balls in the next over were slower balls—two off-cutters and three bouncers. Those five yielded only three runs. One of them almost landed on his half of the pitch and reached Ravindra Jadeja in the time the latter would have rifled through an over. So effective that you wondered whether SRH were late in launching their slower-ball barrage. And now CSK would miss the slower-ball ustaad Mustafizur Rahman, who has flown back to Dhaka to sort out his US visa for the T20 World Cup.

Reversal of fortunes

Aiden Markram stood gazing at the replay, shaking his head and dragging himself to the dug-out, watching his horrendous mode of dismissal. He was batting stressless, the required run rate was under check, he was hoarding singles and twos, Sunrisers cruised. Just then his judgment snapped. He unfolded a reverse sweep, off Moeen Ali who was gripping the ball off the surface and producing some turn. He swished thin air, his balance utterly off-kilter. The umpire sent him the summons to the dressing room. The review was a mere formality. At the other end, Shahbaz Ahmed was watching all these. But he didn’t learn. A few overs later, against the same bowler, he attempted a reverse sweep. He failed to connect. He didn’t learn again.

Two balls later, one of which he clouted for a six, he winked in the sweep again, Ali operating from around the wicket. He missed it again, but the angle was too tight for the umpire to give it out But upon review, he overturned the decision. Needless to say, those two ill-fated reverse sweeps gave CSK a whiff of hope. The ghosts of Mike Gatting seemed to lurk around them.

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