MUMBAI:
Virat Kohli reckoned that the Jaipur track was two-paced making strokeplay difficult but former India ODI skipper Ajay Jadeja felt that the manner in which the star batter batted, there seemed to be very little demons present in the 22-yard strip. Kohli scored an unbeaten 113 off 72 balls with 12 fours and four sixes but RCB managed only 183/3 in 20 overs, a total that was surpassed by Rajasthan Royals with five balls to spare, courtesy Jos Buttler’s 58-ball ton.
Jadeja, an astute cricket brain, felt that there seemed to be some discrepancy in what Kohli observed and how in general the pitch behaved during the entire duration of the game.
“He (Kohli) started out so well. He hit a couple of boundaries in the first few overs, and you knew you were watching something special tonight. The only surprising thing was him speaking about how the deliveries were not carrying through on this pitch, but the way he batted, we didn’t see any shortcomings in the pitch,” Jadeja, a ‘Jio Cinema’ IPL expert said.
After scoring his eighth IPL hundred, Kohli had said the pitch was not a flat one “The wicket looks quite different from the outside. It feels like it’s flat, but the ball is holding up in the pitch, that’s when you realise the pace changes,” Kohli told the official broadcaster on Saturday evening.
It is Kohli’s shot-making that convinced Jadeja to believe there were no shortcomings in the surface.
“In terms of his shot-making, no corner of the ground was left where he didn’t smash the ball. What he said made us think something might be wrong with the pitch, but the way he played, there wasn’t a single shortcoming that could be seen.”
The other Jio Cinema expert Shane Watson feels that the 17th edition of IPL could finally be Sanju Samson’s breakthrough season.
“He showed intent from ball one in his own cool, calm, collected way. A 130 strike rate in the first 10 balls means you’re not just trying to get ones. You’re waiting for a loose ball and he did put it away straight away and because of the skill he’s got, he’s playing the ball on its merit,” Watson said.
“If a bowler bowls a slightly loose ball, because of all the shot options that Sanju Samson has got, he scores very freely. You can see the calmness in him, and he continues to do that game after game, there’s no reason he can’t have a very successful tournament.
“I’m actually predicting he’ll have a long and successful IPL with the bat this year,” the former CSK and Royals star said.
