Things We've Learned From The IPL Today (1/05)

May 1:

Kolkata v. Rajasthan
Deccan v. Punjab


Star among stars... Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers)
One of the commentators, Robin Jackman I think, mentioned how Sharma reminded him of Virender Sehwag in his demeanour at the crease. To me, he's got the look of someone even closer by, his own teammate VVS Laxman. The phlegmatic air about him, the ability to hit it in any direction, the easy economical motion of bat strokes, even the constant obsession with patting down the pitch after every good shot. This was really one of the classiest innings of the tournament . (Somebody send a copy of it to Mukul Kesavan -- it might calm him down after his recent hysterics.) To put it into some sort of context, it was the Twenty20 equivalent of one of those chanceless 120* from the middle order in a one-dayer, played in the heat and under pressure, with 6 different partners at the other end (the kind you could envision Aravinda de Silva orViv Richards playing.)

Old-timer on an egg-timer... Graeme Smith (Rajasthan Royals)
They say whenever Smith loses his wicket cheaply, an angel gets its wings.

Catch from the catchment... Swapnil Asnodkar (Rajasthan Royals)
He has a name like a newspaper jumble, and he was feasting on Ajit Agarkar half-volleys throughout his innings, but he repaid the management's confidence in letting him open on debut with a very useful half-century. It's amazing the wonders for your confidence that can come from having Shane Warne as your leader.

3 Bullets to the head...

• So the Deccan Chargers basically paid $150,000 to bring Scott Styris over as a press secretary, correct? He hasn't played any games has only played one game so far, but I think he's already done 3 different in-game interviews, this last one spreading throughout the entire Chargers' innings. Has he just given up on the idea of playing by this point? I mean, he's not even coming in wearing pants anymore!
  
  
• Shaun Marsh reminded me of either an old Jay Mohr character or a member of the Arctic Monkeys (I'm not sure which) but in his IPL debut he's already looking like another working left-handed Probot right off the Australian assembly line. He looks strong, efficient, and utterly devoid of anything interesting or memorable about him. Say hello to Justin Langer, Mach II.
  
  
• So it turns out that best bowler of the World Cup can actually get you a handful of wickets if you bother playing him, huh? Who woulda thunk it?
  
  

Comments

[Q]

Styris played the 1st game.

[D.S. Henry]

True, I forgot. Thanks, Q.