IPL 2020, WEEK 3
A thumbs up from Ravi Ashwin, who was back from his shoulder injury. © BCCI / IPL
A light and fun summary of the third week of IPL 2020
What is Sanju Samson eating?
If cricket runs through your blood and you age at Sanju Samson six, you would not have aged at all in this past week. (Someone has actually cursed him).
And it’s not just the Rajasthan Royals who are feeling the shock of Samson’s sudden fall in form; it’s also Sharjah, who now seems to have lost her appetite for high-scoring matches. It’s like Sanju can’t hit them, no one else could. So instead of the glamor of the six hits, party promotions will now have to focus on the old trope of Steve Smith leading a group of Englishmen. (Cliched, but let’s be honest, it’ll still catch you and me. If Steve Smith’s pitch accidentally hitting Jofra Archer isn’t “revenge,” then what is it really?)
But did Ashwin warn Buttler?
Match promotions weren’t a problem when Ravichandran Ashwin, mankading fame Jos Buttler, took on the Rajasthan Royals. Just four days ago, the supporting player had let Aaron Finch get away with a warning, but he didn’t need any of that against Buttler; he got it “legally”, so to speak. Ricky Ponting was happy. When Ashwin is bowling and people want to see Buttler on the non-forward end, what’s there to dislike?
Ashwin won the Man of the Match award against the Rajasthan Royals, earning rare accolades from Harbhajan Singh for bowling so well on a flat wicket. (And don’t you want Ashwin to play some of them in test cricket too?)
Top of the world … no thanks
It was a very unusual week for Royal Challengers Bangalore … in that they found themselves at the top of the table for two matches in a row. It must have been a very unsettling feeling, we assume, because Navdeep Saini (the one with the “F *** it, Bowl Fast” inscription on his shoe fame) didn’t even apologize after bowling. And Kohli almost sprayed the ball with saliva. But thank goodness, everything returned to normal when the RCB fell to fifth place, the half of the table that they have come to call home.
Rahul Tripathi, on the other hand, was in a much better mood at the top (of the order). However, his best chance was to meet Shahrukh Khan, who was perched on top of a balcony and greeted him from a social distance. I guess you can’t get it all in 2020.
Bad days for CSK, but KXIP will take them too
MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings continued to have a chase meal, except they once faced Kings XI Punjab. And won. And he realized that he may be younger but still much worse.
It was truly a terrible week for KXIP. There were 220 balls without choosing a gate. Chris Jordan posted comeback figures of 0-42 on his birthday. And the team won nothing (although, looking at it with optimism, that “short term” is not going to be a big problem at the end of the season, ugh).
What we liked …
Kane Williamson flipped his arm. Arrival of Ben Stokes and tweets during the quarantine. And the cricketers breaking their beards. (There is nothing 2020 about it and that’s not a good thing.)
What can change …
Chris Gayle and Ajinkya Rahane’s time on the bench. Rohit Sharma is playing XI (Tell me, would you really want to be Nathan Coulter-Nile?). KL Rahul’s views on strike rates. Much overrated?
© Cricbuzz
