Of Sixes and out, dots and out and the animal planet!
Dogs, Mongoose and now, Moths!:
At the start of every game, the commentators read out a ‘green tip of the day’, an initiative taken up by the IPL.
Unknowingly, they seem to be promoting quite a few animals as well; a bat has already been named Mongoose, one has already seen a few canines in Chennai, and tonight was the night for the moths. There were at least a million of them at the last count, increasing by the minute and by the time the players were back to the hotel, there were a few being swallowed by some of them.
Who’s next? Or to get into the IPL mood, Next is What? (Are you listening Samsung?)
(4, 4,) Six and Out:
Not so long ago, Indian Test match cricketer, VVS Laxman, had spoken about the lack of spinning talent in India. For good measure and, in all probabilities, for that diplomacy effect, he had also added that he was not alluding to those within the team – a squad including Harbhajan, Mishra and Pragyan Ojha.
The manner in which Mishra was mishandled by Naman Ojha off the first four deliveries the leggie bowled to him, said something contrary. After patting down one back to the bowler, the second was a shortish ball which was duly punished, and the third pitched up that got swept to the fence again. With the length gone out of the window, it only got worse, when Mishra bowled a line that allowed Naman Ojha to free his arms and smoke it over the long-on for a maximum.
Unfortunately, Ojha looked to have tasted blood, and as he went in for the kill, the hunter became the hunted as he failed to read a Mishra-googly that whirled in the air and came in to bowl a flummoxed looking batsman. The response from Mishra was surprising, almost akin to the bowler having done a Shane Warne in the 1999 World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
And he returned in his second spell with another short ball. Later, Warne bowled one a tad shorter in his very first over and before one could spell the word ‘shot’, the ball had sizzled the grass on its way to the boundary. Sehwag was on his way.
Dot, dot, dot, dot and Out!:
And then there was the Pathan. Much like what he had done in the previous game, he started by trying to get his eye in. There were four dots, much to the chagrin of the ‘home’ crowd, but worse was to follow as he smote an attempted six to the safe hands of AB de Villiers – and departed for a duck. In Harsha Bhogale’s words, a hundred in one game, a zero in the second and the average is halved!
Ladda’s first outing:
Sarabjeet Ladda is not one of your conventional leg-spinners. Ladda virtually runs through to the crease with an action that resembles, um, nobody at all (probably a long-distance relation of a cross-breed between Abdul Qadir, Anil Kumble and Ajantha Mendis), and for someone doing that to be able to maintain his line and length was commendable.
For two overs he did just that. Only four runs conceded. And then, Warne became the first captain to take the strategic time-out before the captains have usually taken it and the batsmen were given the see-ball-or-not-hit-it orders. Ladda went for 17 and went back home, having learnt a little more about the game. Hopefully.
Tait’s Tournament?:
Almost unfairly named title I must say. But…wides galore so far. Conceding runs at wrong times. And then he drops Sehwag. Bye-bye match.
by Suneer Chowdhary
(The writer is a cricket rambler and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com. He will continue doing so for us whenever he gets that 25th hour of the day.)
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