Top 10 interesting and unconventional moments of IPL

IPL, just like the summer, has been getting hotter by the day. It’s like the clichéd saying – you may like it, you may hate it but just cannot ignore it. Blistering batting, fiery bowling and nail biting finishes are a definitive in the IPL. While we are half way through this spectacular tournament, let us take a look at some interesting and unconventional moments seen until now.

1. The Nawab of Najafgarh, Virender Sehwag continues to enthrall us with his sizzling skills with the bat. Capping another title, he became the only batsman to score five consecutive fifties not just in the IPL, but in T20s as well.

2. A rarity it is, when a captain drops himself from the playing 11. Kumar Sangakkara did just that when his team, the Deccan Chargers faced Mumbai Indians. While it was selfless of him to do it, I believe he has positive effect on the team by being on the field than off it.

3. The guy with the orange cap, the “Ajinkya”(unbeatable) Rahane. Piling up runs for his team seems like a cakewalk for this humble and quiet lad. He lets his bat do the talking and let me say, his bat is expressive. No wonder it broke down in strings at his power packed shots in the match against Delhi Daredevils.

4. DC’s win makes it to this list purely because we all know, we badly needed it. Seeing a franchise that once stood winners, slump to the bottom of the table with no points wasn’t a good sight. Now if it was KKR repeating their poor show, we wouldn’t be surprised, would we? Well, that’s a different story.

5. Talking about Rusty Theron, the commentators brought my attention to him and so did his bowling action. No, he hasn’t been reported for illegal bowling action this time. Though, it worries me that he might get hit hard on his head or jaw if he doesn’t look up soon after delivering the ball and if the batsman decides to hit it straight.

6. Umpires would soon chuck their hats and start wearing helmets if Asad Rauf decides to take it up with the ICC. The poor man, being unintentionally aimed at in the match (PWI vs. Delhi Daredevils) by Ganguly, did everything to save himself – ducking, falling on the ground and even jokingly making a request for a helmet. It might become a reality soon, let’s wait and watch.

7. The newly infused energy in the retired cricketers is another thing that caught everyone’s attention. Saurav Ganguly’s and Brad Hogg’s “hair” raising display of celebration on scalping wickets would have made Shoaib Akhthar regret on not using his hair better in his wicket-taking celebrations.

8. If Usain Bolt can do his signature move upon winning a race, so can Dwayne Bravo. His little jig on the field after a catch is as delightful as him. He enjoys it and so do we. After all, IPL is entertainment, entertainment and entertainment!

9. If only a team owner could change an umpire’s decision, we would be in bliss and so would Preity Zinta. Her visible agitation over a controversial decision that sent Shaun Marsh back to the pavilion, bought her an enquiry from the IPL chief. Take it easy, team owners. Let the professionals do their job.

10. The next person to look out for when India tours Australia would be the usually calm, star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Looking at the way he warned Steve Smith in the PWI vs. CSK match after attempting to mankad him, he might take it upon himself to stand up to the Australians, just like Virat Kohli and Harbhajan did.

As we progress through the tournament, it wouldn’t be farfetched to say that we will see few more moments like these. While I brace myself and await those, if you think there are some more that can make it here, let me know in the comments.