Four done, fifty-six to go. Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 is still in its nascent stages, all eight sides having played exactly one match each. Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Punjab have beaten Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Rajasthan in that order. Too much has happened over these four days of cricket. Here is a brief half-week summary.
Best performance: Harshal Patel’s 5-27
Believe it or not, but Harshal Patel was picked for IPL 2009, and has been playing in the IPL since 2012. His last five seasons had amounted to 16 wickets from 18 matches. Few expected him to steal the show in the tournament opener, but that was exactly what he did. His 5-27 (including 3-1 in the last over) was easily the highest moment of his 49-match IPL career.
Best redeemer: Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell was released by Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) ahead of this season’s auctions. You cannot blame them. After all, he had faced 106 balls and did not hit a single six in IPL 2020. He finished with a strike rate of 102. Royal Challengers Bangalore were ridiculed for buying him for INR 14.25 crores. But Maxwell paid them back with a 28-ball 39 (3 fours, 2 sixes) to set up a tight win for his side.
Unexpected show-stealer: Indiranagar ka Gunda
Cricket fans were surprised to see Rahul Dravid trend on social media on the day of the tournament opener. The man had, after all, retired eight seasons ago. However, this had nothing to do with the IPL. In a commercial launched on the same day, Dravid had portrayed himself in an uncharacteristically angry avatar. He even referred to himself as Indiranagar ka gunda!
Moment of the week: Arshdeep Singh’s catch
There was little wrong with the shot from Manan Vohra. Vohra hit it back to Arshdeep’s right. The shot was hit straight and hard, but Arshdeep did not flinch. He caught it with both hands and stood there, hands on hips, staring at Vohra. In the stands, Punjab fielding coach Jonty Rhodes stood up to applaud.
Quote of the week: Sanju Samson
“The coin looked brilliant and I wanted to take it, but the match referee said no.”
– Sanju Samson was not pleased with Manu Nayyar after being denied the toss coin as memento.