With more than half of the IPL’s teams wishing to be at the same place at the same time — the playoffs during knockout week — it will need some quantum equation to figure out who will eventually make it into the last four. As our calculators and brain cells run out of charge, we bring you Wrong ’Uns, My Kolkata’s weekly awards that promises to honour the brilliant and the bizarre (often one and the same) during the IPL season.
For our seventh instalment of 2023, we inaugurate a new award, tweak an old one and witness our White Cap find its way to a man who has been largely invisible this season despite being in yellow.
The Socrates Award for Best On-Field Dialogue
This award is generally reserved for teammates having a conversation on record that can be heard by those tuning in. On this occasion, however, we make an exception. Even though the two conversationalists give us no idea what they are talking about, the very sight of India’s greatest active men’s batter talking to (arguably) the future of Indian batting is heartwarming. The fact that Yashasvi Jaiswal went up to Virat Kohli to pick the latter’s brains after the Rajasthan Royals (RR) were humiliated on their home turf by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is also good news for Team India. Another sign that franchise hostilities only go so far when it comes to conversations among compatriots.
Most Startling Statistic of the Week
In 16 years of IPL cricket, only three times has a team been bowled out under 60. Interestingly, RCB were involved in all three encounters, being at the receiving end of the damage when they were knocked over for just 49 in 2017 by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and inflicting the damage themselves in the other two cases. First, when RCB dismissed Rajasthan Royals (RR) for 58 all the way back in 2009, and now to this season, when RR capitulated for 59 against RCB on Sunday.
The Most Pleasant Kit
We are tweaking our original category to acknowledge the Gujarat Titans (GT), who were sporting an all-lavender look on Monday night during their comprehensive victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Meant to promote awareness about cancer, the defending champions looked sleek and super smooth in a shade that was reminiscent of good-old Middlesex jerseys from England’s domestic cricket. In a league that has an overdose of blue, we would rather GT sport lavender permanently.
The Kalbaisakhi Award for the Most Pleasant Surprise
After weeks of speculation surrounding his potential retirement from the IPL, Mahendra Singh Dhoni pretty much confirmed his intentions without verbalising them after the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were bettered by KKR at Chepauk. Brushing aside the result, Dhoni and his teammates took a lap of honour around the ground that has never known CSK without its talismanic leader. Surprisingly, but not shockingly, Dhoni’s body language gave away that this indeed was the last time he was playing a home game at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, an occasion made even more memorable by Sunil Gavaskar rushing to get his shirt signed by MSD.
The Jai-Veeru Award for Enduring Friendship
This week’s award for enduring friendship simultaneously celebrates an enduring partnership that gave KKR another memorable win in Chennai. Reeling at 33 for three in the fifth over, Rinku Singh joined good friend and skipper Nitish Rana in the middle, with Kolkata chasing 145. A little more than a dozen overs later, the points were in the bag for KKR after Rinku and Rana showed incredible composure and coordination to complete unbeaten half centuries and lend more credence to the narrative that they are KKR’s finest double act right now.
The Sachin Tendulkar Award for Shot of the Season
When Sachin Tendulkar almost exhausts his Twitter word count to lavish praise on a single shot, there need not be any debate about its merit. The man who was accustomed to conjuring the most impressionable moments of batsmanship took to social media to admire Suryakumar Yadav’s outrageous six off Mohammed Shami during the former’s century for the Mumbai Indians (MI) against GT on Friday. Yadav, who is creating his own manual for shotmaking, not only timed the ball to perfection, but was able to manoeuvre his wrists in such a way that a ball meant to be hit through the covers went flying off over third man for six.
Back with a Bang
Wayne Parnell has rediscovered his mojo at RCB this season TT archives
It seems hard to believe that Wayne Parnell is still only 33. Before Sunday, one could at least argue that Parnell is well past his prime, with a supporting role being his best bet for RCB. However, the South African pacer proved his critics wrong with a spellbinding display against RR, which saw him take three wickets for just 10 runs in three overs. His scalps on the afternoon were Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Joe Root, all within the batting powerplay, which helped reduce RR to 28 for five within the first six overs.
The White Cap
For the first time this season, the White Cap heads down south to Chennai to land on the head of Ambati Rayudu, who has endured a woeful IPL. Just because he has slipped under the radar does not mean that he has been able to elude our most infamous prize. With just 122 runs in 10 innings, Rayudu has an average of 15 and a strike rate of 127 this season. For all the strength and flamboyance in CSK’s middle order, the former CSK opener has struggled to adapt to a floater’s role and may well have to sit out whatever remains of CSK’s tournament.
