Last-Ball Finishes, A Long-Awaited Century, and That Boy Again.

Yesterday night I watched Sanju Samson walk out to bat for CSK against Delhi Capitals at Chepauk.

Three games into his CSK career. Scores of 6, 7 and 9. The boos had not started yet but the murmurs had. People were beginning to question the trade. Whether leaving Rajasthan Royals made sense. Whether the pressure of a new franchise had gotten to him.

I have watched Sanju bat for many years now. I know what he looks like when he is troubled. And I know what he looks like when he has made up his mind.

Yesterday, he had made up his mind.

He took Mukesh Kumar for consecutive fours in the first over. He launched Kuldeep Yadav for a six over extra cover. CSK raced to 62 in the powerplay. He never looked back. He finished on an unbeaten 115 off 56 balls.

IPL 2026 had its first centurion. And he chose the perfect night to do it.

CSK won by 23 runs. Jamie Overton took 4 for 18. First points of the season. The relief was written all over Ruturaj Gaikwad’s face at the end.

Never doubt Sanju Samson. He always answers. Eventually.

Seven Days. Nine Matches. Where Do I Even Begin.

April 5 started with a double-header.

The first match in Hyderabad. SRH versus LSG. Mohammed Shami dismantled the SRH top order, removing Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head cheaply to leave them reeling at 26 for 4 after eight overs. From there, Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy rescued SRH with a 116-run fifth-wicket partnership in 63 balls, the highest for SRH in IPL history, to get them to 156.

Still not enough. Rishabh Pant stayed calm through LSG’s middle-order wobble and finished the chase with three boundaries off the last over, winning it with one ball to spare. Classic Pant. Makes it look impossible until the very last moment, then makes it look easy.

The second match that evening at Chinnaswamy. RCB versus CSK. And RCB were simply brutal. Tim David scored 70 not out off 25 balls with 8 sixes. Patidar smashed 48 off 19. RCB posted 250 for 3, the highest ever by any team against CSK in IPL history. CSK were bowled out for 207 and lost by 43 runs, their third consecutive defeat.

CSK looked broken after that evening. They were not. But we did not know that yet.

April 6. Eden Gardens. My team. My city. And the rain.

KKR were 25 for 2 in 3.4 overs when the match was abandoned. Xavier Bartlett had already removed Finn Allen and Cameron Green. Both teams took a point.

So KKR’s first point of the season came courtesy of a Kolkata thunderstorm. SRK appeared on the balcony and waved to the crowd. That was the highlight of the evening. I will say no more.

April 7 in Guwahati. Rain again, this time cutting the match to 11 overs a side. But shorter did not mean quieter.

Suryavanshi and Jaiswal put on an 80-run opening stand. Suryavanshi scored 39. Jaiswal finished unbeaten on 77 off 32 balls. RR posted 150 for 3 and bowled MI out to win by 27 runs. Bumrah bowled. Suryavanshi hit him anyway. Jaiswal said after the game that watching Suryavanshi take on Bumrah in the first over released the pressure for the whole team. That sentence tells you everything about what this 15-year-old is doing to opposition bowlers’ minds.

April 8. Delhi. DC versus GT. The first real last-ball finish of the week.

GT posted 210. KL Rahul scored 92 off 52 for DC. David Miller, facing his former side, brought the equation down to 2 needed off the final ball. He missed. Jos Buttler ran out Kuldeep Yadav attempting a desperate bye. GT won by 1 run.

One run. The cruelty of this game. Rahul deserved a winning side that night. He did not get one.

April 9. Eden Gardens again. KKR versus LSG. And the most painful kind of loss.

KKR posted 181. LSG were 104 for 5. Mukul Choudhary walked in and scored 54 off 27 balls with seven sixes. He and Avesh Khan added 54 for the eighth wicket. With one needed off the final ball, Choudhary swung, missed, ran through. Raghuvanshi’s throw missed the stumps. LSG won by three wickets.

I turned off the television at that point. I could not watch the celebrations.

KKR posted 181 and it should have been enough. But the death bowling fell apart completely in those final four overs. With no Harshit Rana and Pathirana still unavailable, the lack of experienced death bowling options showed badly when it mattered most. When a team has no genuine pace threat at the death, lower-order batters like Choudhary start looking like match-winners. And that is exactly what happened.

The hard truth is this. Without Harshit Rana and Pathirana, KKR have no reliable death bowling identity. Sunil Narine at 37 may genuinely be their best option in those final overs. That is not a plan. That is a prayer.

April 10 in Guwahati. RR versus the defending champions RCB. And Suryavanshi again. This time against the best bowling attack in the tournament.

RCB posted 201. Suryavanshi came out and scored 78 off 26 balls, with 7 sixes and 8 fours, reaching his fifty off just 15 balls. Dhruv Jurel followed with an unbeaten 81 off 43 balls. RR chased 202 with two overs to spare. RCB’s first loss of the season. RR’s fourth consecutive win. Suryavanshi now leads the Orange Cap with 200 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 266.

After the match, Virat Kohli sent him a personal message of appreciation. When Kohli reaches out to you specifically, you know you have done something truly special.

April 11 gave us a double-header to close the week. First, SRH blazed to 105 for 0 in the powerplay, the third-highest powerplay total in IPL history, with Abhishek Sharma smashing 74 off 28 balls. They were looking at 240. Shashank Singh took two wickets in one over and stopped the charge. SRH managed 219. PBKS chased it down with 7 balls to spare, with Shreyas Iyer finishing unbeaten on 69 off 33.

And then the final match of the week. Sanju’s night. The century. The first points for CSK. The feeling that a team has finally found its feet.

Where Things Stand After Two Weeks

Rajasthan Royals are the team of the tournament. Four wins from four. A 15-year-old who produces a match-winning performance every single time he walks in. A captain in Riyan Parag who backs his instincts. The RR bowling has wobbled a couple of times but the batting has always covered for it.

Punjab Kings are quietly doing something special too. Unbeaten in four games. Three wins and an abandonment that felt like a robbery for them at Eden Gardens.

CSK have woken up. One big performance can do that to a team. Watch them from here.

And KKR. Three losses, one rain point. Next up is CSK at Chepauk on Tuesday the 14th. Away game. Desperate for a win.

I want to believe. I always do. But this team needs answers urgently. The bowling combinations, the death overs, the inability to close out tight games. Something needs to change before it is too late.

Tell Me What You Think

What was your moment of Week 2?

Sanju’s 115? Suryavanshi’s 78 off 26 against the champions? GT winning by 1 run in Delhi? Or Mukul Choudhary appearing from nowhere to steal the game at Eden Gardens on the last ball?

Drop it in the comments. I read every single one.

And if you are a KKR fan, you know where I am. Let us hope Tuesday finally brings some good news.