Indian Premier League (IPL)

[prasen9]

Kohli should drop himself, work on whatever is ailing him - fitness, practice, etc. - and then come back. People will actually respect him more if he does that. He has been awful.

So going by strike rate (avg: 25) the batsmen who have been good are Samson, Kishan, Mayank, Tewatia, Rana, Rahul, Rayudu, and SS Tiwary. We need some big hitters. Anyone emerging? Samson seems to be someone we can try at #4 or wherever.

[PKBasu]

Finally, a match won by the bowlers. Rashid Khan (3/14) and Bhuvi (2/25) do it for SRH against Delhi Capitals.

[Omkara]

There is a difference between sharjah and dubai or even Abu Dhabi. Sharjah pitch is flat and ground is very small. Abu Dhabi has boundary lines 77m long. The pitch has something for the bowler.

Let's see how Sharjah heroes bat on other pitches.

Take back my words. Ishan kishan and Pollard were amazing today. Let's see if RCB can win this one.

Seeing RR play i need to take back the act of taking back my words.

[PKBasu]

Another bowlers' match (at Dubai). The young Indian pacers Shivam Mavi and Nagarkoti win it for KKR. The latter is very quick, the former only slightly less so. Beautiful actions too, but not yet too much movement in the air or off the pitch.

[suresh]

Both Mavi and Nagarkoti shot to fame with their amazing showing in the 2018 under-19 world cup which India won by beating Australia in the final. They made a huge impression in India's first match of the tournament where we played Australia. Both of them took 3 wickets each and Australia got bowled out for 228 chasing 329. It is good to see them continue to do well.

[prasen9]

I may be parochial but I liked KKR investing in them. The key to success in American sports is exploitation. Sorry, I mean player development. You can get young players for cheap. Identify them early and build a solid base for future years.

So the leaders stay Samson 55.66@201, Mayank 73.66@170, Tewatia 25.66@157, Rahul 111@156, Rayudu 71@148, Rohit 42.5@145, SST 31.5@143, Dhoni 44@142, Kishan 63.5@141.

Samson or Rahul should keep wickets for India, whoever is the better keeper. Mayank should get into the T20I team. Samson should get a run. Mayank, Rohit, Rahul, Samson, ... is a good set of bats early on.

[PKBasu]

Both Mavi and Nagarkoti shot to fame with their amazing showing in the 2018 under-19 world cup which India won by beating Australia in the final. They made a huge impression in India's first match of the tournament where we played Australia. Both of them took 3 wickets each and Australia got bowled out for 228 chasing 329. It is good to see them continue to do well.

Yes, but they've been injured for much of the intervening period -- which is a huge pity. We need to look after these youngsters with extra special care!

[PKBasu]

Very strange decision by skipper KL Rahul (KXIP) to have off-spinner Gowtham bowl the 20th over to Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya, who naturally took a full toll of the over with sixes galore.

[Sin Hombre]

Mavi and Nagarkoti were long term investments given they were injured for 2-3 years.

We should give the T20I captaincy to Rohit and let him build his team for the next 2 T20 WCs in 2021 and 2022.

[prasen9]

Faf and Dhoni sunk Chennai again although the three idiots at the beginning did not help either. Curran should have come earlier and not Dhoni.

[Kumar]

Faf and Dhoni sunk Chennai again although the three idiots at the beginning did not help either. Curran should have come earlier and not Dhoni.

What a disaster! It was disheartening to see Dhoni came back for2 even struggling! I think Dhini should have given Curran a strike in the 19th over!

[Atithee]

Disasters were Watson, Rayadu, Jadhav. Others did ok. Bowlers did ok for CSK too.

[prasen9]

I do not think Dhoni did okay. In 36 balls, you should score 49 runs. Dhoni scored 47. That is 2 runs short. Given that you were 7 runs short, that two runs are 2/7, which is over 25% of the problem. Faf should have scored 25 runs and scored 22. She he was 3 runs short. About 50% of the problem.

Jadhav scored 3 and should have scored 10 in the balls he faced. He was the true disaster!!!

Watson scored 1 and should have scored 8 in the balls he faced. Again, disaster.

Now this is a simplistic way of looking at things but with some rationale. If we allow that people who face less balls and there will be a few bats who fail, it is on the ones who play a long innings to bail them out with the understanding that when these folks fail, the others who got out cheaply will bail them out.

Consider the fact that they had wickets in hand. So, the early wickets did not matter. And, Curran can bat. So can Bravo. The ones who batted were a bit too cautious especially Faf and Dhoni. Why were they so ultra-cautious knowing that they were pushing the RRR to impossible heights? And, in some sense, increasing the pressure on Jadeja. Very bad strategy.

Anyway, after Jadhav and Watson dug a 14 run grave, Dhoni, et al., could not dig themselves out because they themselves (Faf and Dhoni) actually dug the grave deeper instead of working on building a ladder. So, there.

[PKBasu]

Very strange that Bravo didn't bat! Why is he so low down the order??
Surely Shane Watson is not up to the task at his age. Not sure why he keeps getting picked. There is a huge Aussie bias in the IPL.

[prasen9]

I believe this is the all-rounder Bravo. Sam Curran is a very good T-20 bat. And, his being after Curran makes some sense. But, if you have a stacked batting lineup like that, you need to take more risks earlier. After the top-3 went, okay, consolidate for maybe 3-4 overs (20% of the resources at max), and then start hitting at least 1-2 big shots an over. And, do not leave it only to one batsman. The other cannot just score at a run a ball and expect the run-rate not to go up. This is the Dhoni equation that has not worked for a long time. It is flawed strategy. And he still will keep employing that. Someone needs to take charge and fix this flawed thinking.