Three weeks in and the IPL has already found its mojo, serving up last-ball thrillers, mind-boggling hitting, superfast bowling and, of course, a fair share of elite embarrassments. As is the case every Wednesday, we are all set to unveil our winners of Wrong ’Uns, our IPL weekly awards that promises to honour the brilliant and the bizarre and most things in between.
Three fresh awards will be handed out this week while a new head will be crowned with our infamous White Cap. Without further ado, here is presenting the third edition of Wrong ’Uns.
The Socrates Award for Best On-Field Dialogue
Virat Kohli had a busy outing last week against the Mumbai Indians (MI). First, his workmanlike 48 was pivotal to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) successfully overhauling MI’s total in what could have been a tricky run chase. Second, Kohli was seen giving a pep talk to a troop of MI youngsters, all of them looking on in awe at the highest run-scorer in IPL cricket. Finally, Kohli ended his evening with a one-on-one chat with the only Indian batter who has been put under greater pressure by a billion people to score a hundred at every given opportunity — Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. It is no secret that two of India’s greatest cricketing champions share a special bond and the affection between them was evident once more as they conversed on the outfield of Pune’s MCA Stadium. Later, Kohli took to social media with a classic fanboy post. What did they talk about? We have no clue, but for Kohli’s sake we hope Tendulkar did not remind him that the former is still 30 hundreds short of a century of centuries.
Most Startling Statistic of the Week
No Indian bowler has clocked higher speeds in any edition of the IPL than SRH’s Umran Malik BCCI
These are the five fastest deliveries of IPL 2022 so far: 153.3 km/h, 153.1 km/h, 152.4 km/h, 152.3 km/h and 151.8 km/h. Can you guess who bowled them? The answer is 22-year-old Umran Malik. And just to clarify, he bowled all five! The youngster from the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) barely got a look-in last year, but has set the pitch on fire with his lethal pace this season. Although his bowling figures have not been exceptional, the speed that he has been able to generate means that every ball he bowls becomes an event in itself.
The Karna Award for Unquestioning Sacrifice
Throughout the IPL history, batters have sacrificed many things, from strike to sixes to common sense. But what Ravichandran Ashwin did for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) was unprecedented. After completing a single off Avesh Khan in the 19th over, Ashwin simply took his bat and walked off the field of the play. No dismissal, no injury, just a swift disappearing act. It took a few seconds before the meaning of Ashwin’s actions sunk in. Always the team man, Ashwin, who was finding it difficult to clear the fence at the death, chose to give up his wicket so that an explosive hitter like Riyan Parag could take his place. In doing so, Ashwin became the first batter in IPL history to be retired out. If only Ajinkya Rahane had had the same brilliant idea for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against the Delhi Capitals (DC) a few hours earlier!
The Yudhisthir Award for Unfiltered Honesty
Though rewarded for his selflessness, Ashwin’s sacrifice was not spontaneous. According to the winner of our Yudhisthir award this week, Ashwin’s decision had been discussed beforehand, most probably during the last strategic timeout of the innings. Kumar Sangakkara, who made no bones about Ashwin retiring out as a purely strategic move, takes our gong for unfiltered honesty this week. While it would have been easy enough for the cricketing equivalent of Keanu Reeves to simply explain Ashwin’s dismissal, Sangakkara went one step further by admitting that he himself had made a mistake by not sending in Parag to bat earlier. It takes guts to own up to one’s error as coach-cum-team-director-cum-whatever-you-want-him-to-be in a post-match press conference. And it takes grace to own up like Sangakkara.
Best Almost-Drop
Boundary line gymnastics have become an IPL tradition over the last decade or so, and this week’s Best Almost-Drop goes to MI’s Suryakumar Yadav for providing the latest reminder of why Ramesh Pawar should never have been an IPL outfielder. Yadav’s acrobatics came against KKR after a shot from Pat Cummins attempted to kiss the stars before obeying gravity. As the ball began its downward journey, Yadav stationed himself right on the edge of the fence, waiting for the ball to land in his palms. Once it did, Yadav, very much aware that his right leg was bound to touch the ropes in a heartbeat, nonchalantly flicked the ball up in the air with his left hand, crossed the fence, and came back onto the field to regain hold of the ball with both feet still off the ground. The only problem: Cummins had hit the shot off a no ball!
The Tewatia Award for the Most Explosive Finish
Rahul Tewatia did a Rahul Tewatia again last week, this time against PBKS BCCI
How fitting that the inaugural award for the most explosive finish goes to the very man it is named after! With 12 required off the last two balls to take the Gujarat Titans (GT) across the line against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), the moment had come for what is described in IPL folklore as Tewatia Time — a spell no longer than a few minutes during which an entire game is flipped on its head thanks to some good old-fashioned slogging. Tewatia’s first six came in the sweet spot between midwicket and long on, with the ball just about going beyond the reach of the outfielder. For the second time, and in what was to be the last ball of the game, Odean Smith shifted his line to outside off stump. Tewatia, who had read the West Indian’s mind, casually shuffled across and dragged the ball to practically the same part of the field as the first six. Two maximums off two deliveries, a rabid Simon Doull in the commentary box and the perfect explosive finish.
The Cat With Nine Lives Award for the Luckiest Player
GT’s Abhinav Manohar was handed multiple lives by a sluggish SRH BCCI
If Abhinav Manohar had stood in the middle of the busiest flyover in Mumbai on Monday night, he would probably have escaped alive. Leading a charmed life for GT against SRH, Manohar had no less than four reprieves during his cameo of 35. To begin with, he somehow managed to thread the ball between keeper and first slip right at the start of his knock, offering a chance that either of the two transfixed SRH players could have grabbed. Then the cricketing gods briefly gave him omnipotence over the fingers of the SRH fielders at long off as Aiden Markram and Rahul Tripathi dropped consecutive sitters at the exact same position. Finally, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s turn to be generous, as he misjudged the flight of the ball and went flailing underneath an airborne ball inside the circle at midwicket. Eventually, though, two of the five culprits made up for their careless fielding as Tripathi held onto a catch off Bhuvneshwar’s bowling to send Manohar packing.
Back with a Bang
Having missed KKR’s first three games of the season, Pat Cummins had a tough initiation to IPL 2022 with the ball, after being taken to the cleaners by MI’s Kieron Pollard. Even though he secured the crucial breakthroughs of Ishan Kishan and SKY, Cummins ended his four overs having conceded a whopping 49 runs. But the Knight in shining armour was not done yet. In fact, his night was barely getting started. Replacing Andre Russell at the crease, the equation for Cummins was not the easiest, as KKR still needed 60 off a little less than seven overs to wrap up the run chase. And then it happened. An eruption of the exceptional. Off the 15 balls he faced, Cummins smashed 56 runs, equalling K.L. Rahul’s record for the fastest IPL fifty. Not only did he register an emphatic win for KKR against their bogey team, but his Superman-esque hitting meant that there was simply no other candidate for this week’s Back with a Bang award.
The White Cap
The prized possession of our White Cap has gone from Kieron Pollard to Matthew Wade this week BCCI
After a fortnight of frustration, Pollard finally managed to shake off the burden of the White Cap by hammering 22 runs off just 5 balls against KKR. This means that we have a new owner of our impeccable accessory this week. While Ajinkya Rahane’s decisively slow batting and David Miller’s inability to make himself relevant as a finisher make them strong candidates, the honour of possessing the White Cap for week three goes to GT’s wicketkeeper-batsman and former Australian captain, Matthew Wade. The 34-year-old may not even make the starting XI in most other IPL franchises, but GT’s playing combination creates a vacuum that is best filled by Wade’s industry with both bat and glove. However, 56 runs in four matches as opening partner to Shubman Gill with a strike rate of just below a run a ball, is the kind of form that is going to test coach Ashish Nehra’s patience. For now, though, Wade hangs on to his place in the GT lineup, appropriately adorned with our most unenviable award of the week.