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Alagappan Muthu
Did you know that Sandeep Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah have practically the same record in IPL cricket?
Not seriously. They do.
One of them is a simple medium rhythm that, it seems, requires useful conditions to be at its best. The other is a bowling force of all formats. A unique cricketer in a generation. And they have the same track record.
So how does one get superstar billing and the other, while a staple of IPL, is widely ignored?
Well the simple reason is that Bumrah saves her team when the whole damn game is on the line. Come in when Andre Russell is starting to warm up. He enters when AB de Villiers wants to go 360. He enters when they enter a Super Over. These are all terribly pressure-ridden scenarios and Bumrah succeeds in them time and time again.
That expressionless walk back to the top of his mark. The breath you take before you start running. The uncomfortable action. The impressive pace. The impressive clarity of mind. The execution similar to a machine. It is as if Hollywood built a fast launcher and left it in Ahmedabad for India to enjoy.
Sandeep can’t live up to that billing. For one thing, he can’t throw fast. And that greatly limits your options. Gorillas can be turned into six-hit balls. Hitters have extra time to move around the crease and mess up their lines and lengths. You will have to arm yourself with variations. Is a lot of work.
Fortunately, Sandeep loves that. Traverse thousands of passes in world-class cricket. Although nobody looks at that. It may seem like a silly complaint. But wouldn’t you want everyone to know when you do something right? Didn’t you run to each and every member of our family to show that exam where you scored 100/100? Recognition is important. In a world dominated by social media, it can even be life changing.
Sandeep deserves it simply because he does this as well as anyone else. Even Bumrah.
Pwns first-order hitters in the IPL.
Here is a sample of his work. He has sacked Virat Kohli seven times in 13 games. He has knocked down Rohit Sharma four times in 14 games. The latter was the result of a ball that moved just a little bit late enough to alter the timing of a chip that had to go through the middle. He has even beaten the top T20 hitter four times in 11 innings. Chris Gayle is averaging an anemic 10.25 runs against this petty old dealer in dibblies and dobblies.
Throughout Tuesday’s game, one that the Sunrisers had to win to make the playoffs, Sandeep edged out a World Cup winner in Zaheer Khan to become the most successful bowler in IPL powerplays. Of his 108 wickets in the tournament so far, 62 belong to starters and No. 3. This is his game. This is its value. This is your genius. Sandeep is the power play Bumrah.
His round arm action pushes the ball in the opposite direction he wants it to move so that the movement is subtle enough and late enough to beat the center and take the edge. But he knows that if things don’t work out for him, he will probably be beaten. Quinton de Kock pitched it for four, six, and six in the fifth inning at Sharjah, but the next ball he faced nibbled far enough out of reach that it nailed it to his stumps.
Sandeep is not Hollywood. But it is still very good.
With input from Gaurav Sundararaman
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