Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Return, but on sticky pitch This was a match featuring the first and second-ranked teams in the table. And the pitch probably played a bit of a play-stopper. The IPL returned to Jaipur after four years. The surface over here used to be known as a belter. Not today. It was not a surface where one could simply go out and clobber the ball. It was evident from the first few overs bowled by the home team. The ball stopped, gripped a bit and made strokeplay difficult. There were very few hitting through the line. Trent Boult’s first over…

One had to leave really early for M Chinnaswamy Stadium that day. It was said that the roads would be chock-a-block, and traffic would go haywire. To make sure that you got there on time, you had to be ahead of time. To make things further complicated, there was a rally taken out by the local Tibetan community, protesting against the Beijing Olympics that was to be held later that year. This was April 18, 2008, a day that changed the cricketing ecosystem for good. It was the inaugural day of the Indian Premier League. Royal Challengers Bangalore were…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay No Mohit? What was this? This was downright unbelievable. Your Player of the Match from the previous game bowls two superb overs, going for just seven runs, and then does not get to bowl again! Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra, captain and coach of Gujarat Titans, what did you do? Not giving Mohit Sharma another over should go down as one of the biggest blunders in IPL history. The match was in their pocket. What they needed was another low-cost over, which Mohit was delivering with those impeccable length balls and a hint of cut. But…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay The Indian Premier League(IPL) is on its 16th voyage, having dropped anchor at venues like South Africa and the United Arab Emirates along the way. And there are 12 Indian players who have featured in some team or the other from the very beginning. This is a testament to their longevity. Virat Kohli has stuck to one team from the first day. MS Dhoni turned up for a different one only when Chennai Super Kings were suspended for two seasons. RevSportz takes a look at this durable lot, which has a 12th man in the true sense…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay Shahrukh Khan the hero Why hold Shahrukh Khan back till that late? He is a specialist batter who can do more than just the finisher’s role. He has played up the order for his state, and scored runs. Yes, Tamil Nadu have been guilty of pushing him lower down the order, but he deserves better. In their last match, it was a 9-ball 22 in a losing cause. Against Lucknow Super Giants, it was his 10-ball 23 from No. 8 which eventually won finished off a chase that wobbled several times. He is a massive striker…