MI vs RCB, What caught our Eye: SKY rises on the horizon, Hardik goes from boos to bouquets, and Patidar parties with swivel pull

SKY High

When Ishan Kishan perished in the ninth over after making 69, RCB were looking for some respite. But in walked Suryakumar Yadav, the Impact sub for MI. After missing the initial round of matches with injury and failing to get off the mark on his return against Delhi Capitals, Suryakumar finally announced his arrival at this edition’s IPL. As has been the case throughout his career, he managed to find boundaries early in his innings and from there on he was simply unstoppable. Mr 360 degree once again showed his range. Those usual scoops behind the wicket came to the forefront again as RCB’s attack failed to offer any challenge, quickly accepting their fate.

ICYMI – Surya lighting up the night SKY with a flurry of SIXES 🔥🔥🔥

Watch the match LIVE on @StarSportsIndia and @JioCinema 💻📱#TATAIPL | #MIvRCB | @surya_14kumar pic.twitter.com/7CiLtcwTyI

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2024

Mixed emotions for Hardik

The Wankhede Stadium saw a mix of emotions as Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya walked in to bat. First, as Rohit Sharma was getting off the pitch after being dismissed, you could hear a ring of boos that continued as Hardik took his guard. Just when it looked like another round of booing is about to follow, the tone suddenly changed. The 33,000-crowd started chanting Hardik’s name. And soon enough, the MI captain welcomed the chants with a first-ball six over long on. From booing to cheering in the span of a few minutes.

Bumrah 1, Kohli 0

Bumrah vs Kohli was supposed to be box-office stuff but it went down rather tamely. For some reason Virat Kohli was looking edgy from the get-go and when he started to shuffle around even to Jasprit Bumrah, the outcome seemed inevitable. He had backed away for a slog and missed. Then a nip-backer hit him on the pad as he tried to flick it rather forcefully. And then he went for a shot that he now and then plays in T20 in the recent years: the slog-swipe to the on side irrespective of the length. Considering that ball wasn’t that short for that shot and even seamed in, it wasn’t a surprise that it caught the inside edge for the wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan to lunge to his left to take the catch.

Boom Boom Bumrah!@Jaspritbumrah93 comes into the attack and gets the big wicket of Virat Kohli.

Live – https://t.co/7yWt2uizTf #TATAIPL #IPL2024 #MIvRCB pic.twitter.com/1QbRGjV2L0

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2024

Patidar pulls not square but over mid-on

Rajat Patidar’s pull off Akash Madhwal in the 6th over was interesting. It wasn’t a conventional pull over midwicket or square-leg. He had already seen Kohli perish, trying that pull rather square. And so, Patidar sort of collapsed his arms and wristed it over mid-on. Safe, interesting, and suited for balls that aren’t that short too. It isn’t an on-the-up punch that batsmen occasionally play over the straight infield. Not an easy shot, though, as if the last-instant wrist-scoop doesn’t kick in, it would pop up to mid-on. We have seen Prithvi Shaw play that shot and also fall to that shot. This time around, Patidar managed to pull it off.

A 96-metre six of Patidar-Rap

As soon as Hardik Pandya released that ball gently on a length, he must have know crack of doom awaits, and Rajat Patidar obliged him. He did that baseball move of his, as he drags his whole weight back and then sashays forward like a baseball hitter. And boy did he whack it. He absolutely walloped it and almost immediately had a glance at his captain and non-striker Faf du Plessis. The white ball kept flying to eventually fall on second tier. And Pandya would signal to no one in particular that he thought the ball would skid on. It did skid off the seats in the crowd though.

Of regrets and reverse V shots

In his interview on R Ashwin’s YouTube channel, Dinesh Karthik shared many fascinating insights. One of those was the regrets he had from his playing career. “If you had to actually ask me one of my regrets in my cricketing career in respect to IPL, it was the fact that I did not want to get retained in 2013,” he said. The other one was never getting the chance to play for Chennai Super Kings (‘but that I understand,’ he’d add).

And on what is likely to be his last appearance at the Wankhede Stadium, DK played a blinder to rescue RCB’s batting against Mumbai Indians. Coming into bat slightly earlier than we are used to seeing him in RCB’s colours, DK took his time to settle in. At one stage, he was on 6 off 9 balls. Then came an over where he played in the V against Akash Madhwal… only this V was behind the wicket, for four fours. Despite RCB losing wickets in a bunch, he powered his side to a decent total with a brilliant 23-ball 53. A knock to be proud of at his former home.

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Siraj slackening

On a night where Jasprit Bumrah made jaws drop, his India new ball partner Mohammed Siraj came up with another below par performance. With every passing outing at this IPL, Siraj is bowling his way out of T20 World Cup contention. Given Mumbai’s batting depth, RCB needed early wickets from Siraj, but once again his limitations in the format — the length he bowls, came to haunt him as Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma tore him apart in the powerplay. His economy rate in the powerplay stands at 12.30 this season.

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