IPL is back – My 5 Pointers on the first match between MI and CSK

IPL is back. The poster boy of Indian Cricket – Indian Premier League was back on our TV screens yesterday.

The last year finalists, Mumbai Indians (MI) & Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took on each other in the inaugural match this time.

These are different times and difficult times too. To stage a tournament of this magnitude amidst the pandemic of Covid-19 was a challenge but economics play a big role in everyone’s lives.

So here we are back to India’s signature cricket tournament which is revered across the world.

The game marked the return of India’s iconic cricket captain, MS Dhoni to active cricket after more than 400 days.

Dhoni has not lost any of his sense humour though. During the toss time interview, MS said that because of all social distancing norms he asked the match referee if he can keep the first slip! No one could have said that other than Dhoni because he entertains you and that’s why he is so loved by everyone.

It must be very difficult for all cricketers because living inside a biosecurity bubble for more than 2 months is a very big challenge but that’s what it is and everyone has to not only take care of themselves but of everyone else’s as well. Breaking the protocol would put the entire tournament at risk. It’s good to see that all teams are together in this matter. It’s another matter that at the end of this all, the cricketers might feel like Bigg Boss winners staying isolated for so long.

For fans like us who have seen 95% of IPL on TV, it’s same as usual because we love cricket and to see our favourite cricketers back on the field is a motivation in itself. The last 6 months have been a struggle for everyone and it’s a struggle even today. But if cricket can entertain us and keep us happy then why not.

I hope to write every day related to IPL going forward and I will leave the cliche of being a cricket reporter and rather focus on 5 best moments of a match each day. So here goes my report for the inaugural match between CSK and MI.

1. The inaugural speech by Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak while thanking the dignitaries ended up thanking Jay Shah first who is the secretary of BCCI and followed that with Sourav Ganguly (gave a strange pronunciation of his name which only he could repeat) who is the president of BCCI. Was that intentional to show that Amit Shah (father of Jay Shah and the second most important man in India’s politics today) rules the roost? Where does that put Sourav Ganguly? How come he has become so compromising when he was known for calling spade a spade? Does power make people lose their inner conscience? Do you lose your fighting spirit and self-respect to hang on to the chair? 

2. Many cricketers in the playing 11 looked extremely unfit. Saurabh Tiwary made me feel like as if I was in the field. The fat tummies owing to multiple weeks of lockdown seems to have taken their toll. Lots of balls went between the legs. The quality of fielding, especially by the Indian cricketers, was pathetic. Hope the rustiness will get over after a couple of matches. 

3. Faf du Plessis was the man in the field and ended up taking 3 catches and two of them were brilliant. I am very sure the catch that he took to get rid of Hardik Pandya made a difference of at least 20 runs and hence according to me that catch is actually the turning point of the match.

4. Ambati Rayudu made a tongue and cheek tweet couple of years back about 3D glasses when he was overlooked for the Indian World Cup team because he didn’t bowl and was a relatively weak fielder. It created quite a furore in 2019. Ironically CSK sent him at number 4 and he came in when CSK looked in big trouble but he top-scored for them and along with Faf took the team to a position of great strength from where CSK won the match. 

5. Dhoni’s masterstroke of sending Jadeja and then Sam Curran ahead of himself and Kedar Jhadav to keep the left and right partnership going. Jadeja failed but Sam Curran scored 18 runs in 5 balls to change the course of the match and he made the equation easy to get in the death overs. Proves once again why Dhoni is considered one of the best captains ever. Incidentally, this win took him to 100 wins as a captain in IPL.

What are the main incidents of the first match that you think that left a mark for you?

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