The Kolkata Knight Riders really played the opening match of the IPL like the defending champions. Right from their fast bowling unit, to spin and batting departments, everything fell in place against the Mumbai Indians. Not many would have given KKR a chance to win the match after Rohit Sharma’s team made a convincing 168 for three in 20 stipulated overs while batting first. But the KKR’s reply was just superb.
Leading by example, Gautam Gambhir was at his best to give a rousing start to his team’s chase. The middle-order then responded with some lusty blows to steal the match from the Mumbai team. It was Suryakumar Yadav, the latest sensation of the KKR team, who produced season’s first block-buster knock in front of the packed Eden Gardens. With the ball, South Africa’s Morne Morkel was just outstanding. He was well complimented by two spinners from the KKR team – Sunil Narine and Shakib Al Hasan.
Now that the Act 1 Scene 1 is over, the next challenge is against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is the team, which has the maximum fire-power. From Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers to captain Virat Kohli, the RCB have the most devastating batting in the league. In the previous season, they even had Yuvraj Singh, whom they released for the auction and was bought by the Delhi Daredevils. But still, they ran out of steam. This year, it’s a new beginning and the team is banking on Virat Kohli.
This is the same Kohli who was struggling to get big runs after the World Cup match against Pakistan because he was mostly playing cross-batted shots. This is the tournament, which is ideal for such technique and Kohli should do well for his team in the format of the game. The strategy is straight and simple: Go out there and hit the ball. Against a potent KKR attack, it may not be as simple as it sounds to put the ball out the park at will, but the RCB trio of Gayle, de Villiers and Kohli can actually do that on their days. Will Saturday be one such day?
