Sanju Samson at his best is one of the most exciting batters in T20 cricket. Sanju Samson at his most Samson, instinctive, aggressive, occasionally reckless, almost always spectacular, is also one of the most nerve-wracking. CSK have built five IPL titles on the exact opposite of reckless. Measured. Structured. Dhoni-calibrated. These are the words that […]
Sanju Samson at his best is one of the most exciting batters in T20 cricket. Sanju Samson at his most Samson, instinctive, aggressive, occasionally reckless, almost always spectacular, is also one of the most nerve-wracking. CSK have built five IPL titles on the exact opposite of reckless. Measured. Structured. Dhoni-calibrated. These are the words that […]
Both captains. Both in their early seasons of T20 leadership. But the comparison stops there. Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings look like a team that has been briefed on every scenario before the toss. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s CSK looks like a team discovering what their plan should have been in real time. The difference isn’t experience; Gaikwad […]
Every returning fast bowler’s story sounds the same until it isn’t. Came back, bowled a few games, broke down again. Kartik Tyagi has been through that cycle. What makes this IPL return different isn’t the fitness bulletin or the domestic performances; it’s what he actually changed during the layoff. His running mechanics were rebuilt from […]
Gujarat Titans defended 160. Not 130. Not 145. One hundred and sixty, a total that requires one or two wickets in the powerplay to create the pressure that makes a modest total feel like a mountain. Prasidh Krishna took wickets when he finally bowled. The problem is when he bowls. Introduced too late. Used in […]
The pattern has already appeared once this season, and it will appear again. Gujarat Titans build a dominant position, the top order fires, the powerplay produces, and the total feels set. Then the middle order arrives and the innings contract. The 45 they should add becomes 25. The 185 becomes 165. The match that felt […]
Five matches. Three wickets. An economy of 9.36. That’s the entire Mumbai Indians chapter of Arjun Tendulkar’s IPL career. Not because he’s not good enough to contribute more, but because he was never going to get the chance to find out at a franchise with Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Hardik Pandya occupying the roles […]
Adam Zampa didn’t skip the IPL. The IPL skipped him. He was “not really on the radar”, his words, not a journalist’s characterisation. That admission from one of Australia’s best T20 spinners reveals more about IPL auction dynamics than it does about Zampa’s quality. The IPL prioritises mystery spinners, death-over specialists, and batters who bowl. […]
Shreyas Iyer. Marcus Stoinis. Arshdeep Singh. Yuzvendra Chahal. Marco Jansen. The conversation about IPL title contenders consistently centres on the Mumbai Indians, RCB, and CSK. PBKS appear in the supporting conversation, mentioned as strong, acknowledged as competitive, but rarely named as the team most likely to lift the trophy. The squad doesn’t justify that dismissal. […]
Jofra Archer is bowling the new ball at Chennai Super Kings’ top order. Nandre Burger from the other end with left arm angle working into right-handers simultaneously. Both bowlers are attacking rather than containing. Both are specifically designed to take wickets in the power play rather than merely reduce the run rate. CSK’s opening combination […]
Same number of matches. 189 each. Kuldeep Yadav has 241 wickets at an average of 20.60 and an economy of 7.46. Yuzvendra Chahal has 214 wickets at 23.59 and 7.55. The economy rates look almost identical. The wicket gap doesn’t; 27 wickets at a significantly better average across the same workload is a meaningful difference, […]
Three separate decisions. All wrong. All avoidable. Opening with Gaikwad and Samson created the wrong powerplay combination for swing conditions. Selecting four seamers on a surface that rewarded spin produced a bowling imbalance that RR exploited immediately. Shot selection under pressure confirmed that CSK’s batting plan had no contingency for early wickets. Any one of […]