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Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians – cricket match in Bollywood land featuring the Karan – Arjun of Indian cricket. Whenever the names Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are involved in an encounter, the expectations go soaring by quite a few notches and the TRPs tend to head for the roof. Though Mumbai won the game comfortably and Tendulkar didn’t feature in the final XI, the Wankhede crowd was entertained to the fullest by the rest of the cast.
A new opening combo – Glenn Maxwell and Aditya Tare!
Opening the innings has been Mumbai’s Achilles’ heel. Though Mumbai is loaded with power hitters down the order, they have struggled to find an able partner for Sachin Tendulkar. However, after Dwayne Smith seemed to have fit into the role, Mumbai, again, decided to mix things up at the top of the order. The million dollar man got his second game and Aditya Tare resurfaced from oblivion after a gap of three years! The new pair got out of the blocks quickly, pumped up the scoring rate and threw the Royals completely off their guard. If Tare went on to score a delightful 50, Maxwell (almost!) justified his selection with his towering sixes over mid wicket.
Into the block hole – return of the forgotten delivery!
6, 4, 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 0, 6 – That’s what Kieron Pollard did to the Sunrisers in the last game. Though it was a serious assault, the Sunrisers bowlers made it a tad easier for him by not bowling the yorkers. In fact, the above deliveries weren’t even close to a yorker. None of the Sunrisers bowlers, including Dale Steyn, tried to york the Trinidadian and he made merry of the low full tosses that were offered. Today, however, James Faulkner and Lasith Malinga got their basics right. Faulkner bowled them right in the block hole to Pollard and the big man could do nothing but pat them back to the bowler. Then, in the last over of the Rajasthan innings, Malinga brought out the perfect one and caught Brad Hogde dead in front of the wicket!
Yorkers, still the best in the death overs. Hence proved!
Kevon Cooper – pick up, turn and whack!
The Royals all-rounder bowled a nice spell and picked up a wicket but his moment arrived when he ran Pollard out. He bowled a slower delivery that caught the leading edge of the bat. The ball scooped up but it fell tantalizingly short of the outstretched hands of the West Indian. However, the next instance saw an outstanding piece of fielding. As Pollard set off for a run, Cooper picked up the ball on the half volley, turned around, threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end and caught Pollard a yard short of safety. If you thought that was entertaining, rewind and watch the celebration yet again!
Rahul Dravid – Caught in the wrong mood!
IPL finally got on to the nerves of Rahul Dravid. If you thought Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir were the angry men of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid decided to take a cue from his young mates. A bouncer from Mitch Johnson saw Dravid completely miss the hook shot. Dinesh Karthik went up for a timid appeal while Johnson didn’t seem too interested. The umpire raised his finger and Dravid lost his cool. Not only did he shake his head vehemently in protest of the decision, Dravid, surprisingly, had a few things to say to the umpire. The fair play award went out of the window and he almost slammed his bat on the ground as he reached the dug out.
Pollard’s Sherlock act - Elementary, my dear Watson!
Dravid started the drama but Pollard and Watson took it to the next level. Minutes after things calmed down following the Dravid dismissal, the two big boys from both sides decided to have some fun. Shane Watson walked out to bat and Pollard got right into his ear. Though Pollard was all smiles, Watson didn’t seem to like the joke that much. He complained to the umpires and Asad Rauf hauled up Rohit Sharma and cautioned Pollard. However, just as the situation cooled down, Watson skied a long hop from Pragyan Ojha. Pollard ran in from long on, gobbled up the Aussie, went on a celebratory run and then gave Watson a proper (?) send off. What more, it didn’t end there. Watson gave Pollard a mouthful from the dugout before Dravid stepped in and sent the fuming Aussie into the air conditioned pavilion!
It was an easy win for Mumbai at the end but it certainly turned out to be very interesting thanks to the various on and off field incidents. Sixes, fours, wickets, tussles – it was riveting to watch and as Ravi Shahtri would put it – the crowds definitely had their money’s worth!
