Gulf News analysis on the IPL week:
Rajasthan Royals’ surge, Mumbai Indians’ revival, Delhi Capitals’ struggles
Rajasthan Royals’ surge, Mumbai Indians’ revival, Delhi Capitals’ struggles
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00:00It's going to be difficult. But I think the best is to allow him to play as he is.
00:04Instead of talking about him as an Arjun Tendulkar, I think we need to talk about him as an Arjun.
00:09So that, allow him that time, give him that space for him to mature.
00:13Because some guys mature early, some guys mature later.
00:16It's everybody's game. There have been guys who played one IPL game 10 years ago and they are playing much better now.
00:26It's all about the experience and the maturity.
00:29That comes with more matches. Obviously, he made a good start.
00:33But let's not look too much into it other than giving him the time and the space to
00:39blossom and mature and grow on his own.
00:47Hello and welcome to our weekly IPL catch-up show.
00:51Joining us today are golf news experts Shyam and Satish and our IPL superfan Pradeep.
00:57Welcome to the show, guys.
00:59Thank you, Arjun.
01:00Thank you, Arjun. Thank you.
01:02Okay, guys, let's start with the big news and that is the return of Tendulkar.
01:07No, I'm not talking about the master, Sachin.
01:10I'm talking, of course, about his son Arjun, who made his IPL debut at the weekend for Mumbai Indians.
01:17Shyam, I mean, this is a great story, isn't it?
01:19To have that name back playing cricket again.
01:22All eyes will be on the youngster now, won't they?
01:25Absolutely.
01:25That is the pressure, really.
01:27Because anytime a father and son plays…
01:30I mean, this is perhaps the first time in IPL.
01:33But if you have had that in the history of cricket, we have had father and sons play.
01:38But the thing is to live…
01:40The problem is to living up to that Tendulkar name.
01:43And what you have to know here is Sachin Tendulkar was the batsman
01:47and Arjun Tendulkar is the bowler.
01:50And he didn't do too badly.
01:51First over, he conceded only 5 runs.
01:54But second over, he conceded 12.
01:56So, not a bad start for a youngster.
02:00Pradeep, how is Arjun going to handle the pressure
02:04being the son of arguably the greatest batsman in the game?
02:07Do you think he's got what it takes to be a name in the game?
02:12I think it's a little early to say that.
02:14The kid is trying.
02:15But as Satish said, the pressure is humongous.
02:19In fact, a couple of weeks ago, his father consulted and requested Yuvraj Singh
02:35so that his father would Yograj.
02:36That's Yuvraj's father, Yograj, to kind of have a chat with Arjun
02:41and probably give him some tips or things to do
02:47and how to handle that sort of pressure.
02:50That also happened.
02:51So, they've all been trying.
02:52The kid has been trying.
02:53In fact, he had a very good season in their domestic cricket
02:58when he's playing with Goa, not with Mumbai in the domestic cricket season.
03:04So, let's hope he's able to handle that pressure
03:08and kind of make a name for himself.
03:12Satish, he's been with Mumbai, I think, for the last couple of years.
03:15He was injured in his first season.
03:17He didn't make a start last time out.
03:19But he finally got his debut yesterday.
03:24I mean, just looking at him, he's a big, strong, big, tall guy.
03:28He's, what, six foot two, six foot one, six foot two.
03:30He's round there.
03:30He's far taller than his dad, Sachin.
03:33What do you think of his prospects?
03:35Do you think he can be a really good player,
03:37like his dad wasn't with the bat, obviously, but with the ball?
03:39By the way, he also got a century for a smashing century in the domestic league.
03:47So, he can also bat.
03:48It's not that he can't bat.
03:49So, again, it's too early.
03:53The pressure will be on him.
03:54But what will work in his favour is,
03:56he has been with the Mumbai Indians for the last few years.
03:59So, it's not that something which the pressure won't be so much
04:01because he will be thinking that I am part of this squad for the last few years.
04:06He must have bowled to them, played matches against them.
04:09Because these guys play plenty of matches when they don't play official IPL matches.
04:14Before the pre-season tournament, during the season tournament,
04:17they play a lot of games.
04:19So, he must have played against them and learnt a lot.
04:22So, it's a little too early.
04:23But again, as Shyam says, and as with the past,
04:27there have been many players who are lesser-performed fathers,
04:33whereas the son could not replicate the father's performance.
04:37But here, we are talking about Tendulkar,
04:38who is literally the Everest of cricket in the world.
04:43So, it's going to be difficult.
04:45But I think the best is to allow him to play as he is.
04:48Instead of talking about him as Arjun Tendulkar,
04:51I think we need to talk about him as Arjun.
04:54So, allow him that time.
04:55Give him that space for him to mature.
04:58Because some guys mature early.
04:59Some guys mature later.
05:01It's everybody's game.
05:03There have been guys who played one IPL game 10 years ago
05:08and they are playing much better now.
05:10So, it's all about the experience and the maturity
05:13that comes with more matches.
05:15Obviously, he made a good start.
05:17But let's not look too much into it,
05:20other than giving him the time and the space
05:22to blossom and mature and grow on his own.
05:26I think that's a very good point, Satish.
05:28To let Arjun Tendulkar play for himself
05:32and not be...
05:33Obviously, there's going to be a lot of pressure on him,
05:35just purely because he's Tendulkar.
05:37He can't escape the tunnel.
05:38He can't escape it.
05:39But yeah, it's going to be very interesting now
05:42to see finally him having made his debut yesterday.
05:44As Shyam said, he had a decent first over.
05:47But his second over, he was hit around, I think,
05:49for a four and then for a six.
05:51And so, let's see how he comes back.
05:53We'll keep an eye on how he does as the season progresses.
05:56Okay, yesterday, there were two IPL matches.
05:59Rajasthan beat Gujarat by three wickets.
06:03Samson and Hetmeyer, they caught the eye
06:05with a couple of very solid knocks
06:07to keep Rajasthan at the top of the table.
06:10Shyam, Rajasthan have played five and they have won four.
06:14They are looking very good right now, aren't they?
06:17Yeah, they are.
06:18They are, I mean, among all the sides,
06:19I think they look the best at the moment.
06:22Until yesterday, Gujarat was looking the same.
06:25I mean, I thought Gujarat could be the one to...
06:28Even at the beginning of the tournament itself,
06:29I thought Gujarat could well retain the title.
06:33But yesterday's match, actually,
06:36I had turned that thinking aside
06:38simply because Gujarat was in the race for the bulk of the match.
06:42See, 80% of the time, Gujarat were in the match.
06:44They beat Batting or the early part of the bowling.
06:48Till, they even had Rajasthan at 66 for 4.
06:53From there, I think Samson turned the tables on them.
06:58He may have just joined it.
07:00What is remarkable there is,
07:01Rajasthan used to be heavily reliant on Josef Butler.
07:04If you look at last year's matches,
07:06they have won all the matches where Butler has scored
07:10and lost the matches where he hasn't done well.
07:12So, this is a sea-change in their approach.
07:15And it's good to see.
07:16And I think it really marks them as a sight to watch this year.
07:22And Shyam, adding to that...
07:24Sorry, Imran.
07:24Adding to that, if you look at...
07:27There are three guys in the top 15 among the top run-getters.
07:31Butler, Hetmeyer and Samson.
07:33So, that makes it into a collective unit, isn't it, Shyam?
07:38Absolutely.
07:39Because even if you look at yesterday's effort,
07:41it was a complete team effort.
07:44Even right down to Ravindranath Srinu,
07:47who has contributed 10 runs from 3 balls
07:50to Jural, who scored 18 from 10 balls.
07:53All of these mattered.
07:55As Satish was saying, it was a complete team effort,
07:57which makes Rajasthan a dangerous site.
08:01Yeah, let's bring Pradeep in.
08:03Pradeep, Ishan, Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav,
08:07they helped Mumbai beat Kolkata by 5 wickets.
08:11Do you think Yadav is getting back to that form
08:15that we know that he's capable of?
08:16He scored a 25-ball 43 yesterday.
08:20Yeah, I think he is.
08:21Yes, of course.
08:22Everybody knows his abilities and he's likely
08:27to have that new Mr. 360 title after ABD.
08:34But I think he still has some time to go.
08:39And it's going to be great for his team,
08:45Mumbai and for India, for him to be regaining
08:48that form that he had.
08:52And hopefully he should turn out good for his team.
08:56Overall, for some reason or the other,
08:59Mumbai still is not looking that great as a team.
09:07Okay, we've mentioned Rajasthan,
09:10who are at the top of the table right now.
09:12But at the other end of the table and rock bottom,
09:16currently are Delhi Capitals.
09:18Shyam, they've played 5 and they've lost 5.
09:22Former India star Virender Sehwag has been saying
09:25that their coach Ricky Ponting should take
09:27some of the blame for their terrible start.
09:29Is that right?
09:31I'm not surprised.
09:32I'm not too sure whether Ponting should be
09:34the one to take the blame alone.
09:36Because right at the start of the tournament,
09:38I had written a piece saying that Delhi Capitals
09:41would struggle to make the playoffs.
09:43And I think they have proved me right,
09:45simply because they are much worse than what I expected.
09:48Simply because their batting is in a complete shambles.
09:53You have only Aksar Patel,
09:54who is doing some decent amount of batting there.
09:57David Warner is getting runs,
09:59but at a very slow rate.
10:01He is consuming a lot of balls,
10:02but he is getting some 50s,
10:04but that's not much of worth.
10:06But at the same other end,
10:09you have only Nokia,
10:10who is bringing in some wickets
10:12or bringing some tight overs.
10:14So, as it is,
10:16they are on a back foot with the batting.
10:18So, if the bowling also suffers,
10:20then where do we go from there?
10:21Prithvi Show has been an absolute disaster.
10:24Manish Pandey got a knock in between.
10:26Aksar is the only one who looked like
10:28taking the fight to the opposition.
10:30So, it is a pretty bad sight.
10:32And I think, finally, okay,
10:35everything you can lay at the coach's door.
10:38So, in that case, like Sevak said,
10:42when Delhi were winning the matches
10:44and when they made the final,
10:46all of them were praising Ponding.
10:48So, by the same yardstick,
10:50when things are not going well for them,
10:52he should take the blame.
10:53I think it's not just Ponding,
10:55the entire team has to lift their act,
10:57I mean, clean up their act
10:59to make some kind of impact on this tournament.
11:02Let me bring Satish.
11:04Satish, we know Sevak was captain of Delhi
11:07in his IPL playing days a few years ago.
11:10Obviously, he still cares for the team.
11:11He does not want to see them
11:13at the bottom of the table,
11:14struggling at the moment.
11:16Played five, lost five.
11:18But Satish, I mean,
11:19how are they going to turn their fortunes around?
11:21And what do you make of David Warner?
11:23As Shyam has just mentioned,
11:25he's been scoring.
11:25He's got, I think, three half-centuries,
11:27but they've been coming at a very slow rate.
11:30He's been quite sluggish with the bat.
11:32I mean, how are they going to turn their fortunes around?
11:36I think the main key aspect is
11:39they are not getting the runs they should have.
11:41Yes, Ponding might have got some runs.
11:44He might be slow.
11:45But he might be fast.
11:46But that doesn't matter.
11:47But he needs support.
11:48Especially at the top of the order.
11:50Prithvi Shaw has not been scoring runs.
11:52I think even for that matter,
11:54you are looking at somebody like
11:58Manish Pandey or Mitchell Marsh.
12:00All these guys, they have to do it collectively.
12:03So, that's not happening.
12:05They are failing big-time in terms of the runs.
12:09And again, as I also wrote at the start
12:13of the preview, when we did the preview,
12:18Warner needs to redeem his pride
12:21because he was the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
12:23They did badly.
12:24And he was dumped as a captain.
12:26And then Kane Williamson took over
12:27and they did reasonably well.
12:29And something like that has happened to Delhi also now.
12:32I don't want him to lose the captaincy.
12:34But again, he's not getting enough support from the rest.
12:36So, I think it's a collective effort
12:40and they should better perform well.
12:45Because otherwise, five losses in five games
12:48is almost like looking at another two or three losses.
12:52You're done for the year.
12:54You don't have to play after that.
12:55You'll be out of the race.
12:58It'll be too late for them, for sure.
13:00Two more defeats.
13:00It could already be too late.
13:02Let's see.
13:02Pradeep, what do you think has gone wrong with Prithvi Shaw?
13:05I mean, we've had Shane Watson, the coach,
13:07coming out in defence of him,
13:09saying that players like Shaw, they don't grow on trees.
13:12That's true.
13:13I mean, they also say that class is permanent.
13:16Form is temporary.
13:17I mean, what does Shaw have to do?
13:22It's actually quite difficult to understand what's happening.
13:26Because, I mean, Prithvi Shaw is a gifted talent
13:33that the country has.
13:35But somehow, for some reason or the other,
13:39he's not able to kind of pull it through.
13:42And as you said, even David Warner also
13:46is not really shining for them.
13:51So I would also tend to agree here
13:55that it is almost as good as end of the road
13:59for them for this season.
14:01And it's going to be almost impossible for them
14:06to now recover and kind of make a place.
14:10But you never know, as they say,
14:11cricket is a very interesting game.
14:16You never know what happens when, where.
14:18You know, like the example of Rinku Singh
14:23having scored five sixes in the last over.
14:27So you never know.
14:28But it doesn't appear likely that Delhi
14:32is going to make the cut.
14:35Doesn't appear likely.
14:35But like you say, Pradip, you never know.
14:37This season, the games have been going literally
14:39to the last ball.
14:40We don't know who's going to win these matches.
14:41So yes, they've had a terrible start.
14:43Played five and lost five.
14:45Nobody wants to have a start such as poor as that.
14:47And it's going to take a real effort for them to...
14:50They've got the players to improve.
14:51I mean, we've just mentioned some great players,
14:53Australian legend.
14:54I mean, you know, Warner's superb.
14:57If he can increase that pace of his with the bat
14:59and if Shaw can get back to his former ways,
15:02then there's an outside chance.
15:04But it's been a very, very poor start.
15:06OK, today, Royal Challengers Bangalore
15:08are playing Satish's team, Chennai Super Kings,
15:13with Virat Kohli looking like he's back
15:15on his top form again.
15:17Shyam, how do you see that one going?
15:21A tough call.
15:21But since it's being played
15:26at Bangalore, which is the Chennai Summer Stadium,
15:29Chennai Summer Stadium is a bowler's graveyard.
15:32I mean, it's just full of run,
15:34especially because of the...
15:35And the shorter boundaries doesn't help at all.
15:38But I would rather go...
15:40I would pick the Royal Challengers to win
15:42on their home ground.
15:43But Chennai, you can never write off in the sense
15:46like they've been doing quite well.
15:48Royal Challengers not doing too badly either
15:50because...
15:51Of course, they've been patchy in the sense
15:52they win one and they lose one.
15:54That is typical RCB.
15:56But like you said about Virat Kohli,
15:58he's been having a fabulous run
16:00because he's been scoring.
16:01Almost every match he's been scoring.
16:03I think he's already had 3 or 4 fifties already.
16:05So, he's in the pink of form.
16:07So is Paf.
16:08And RCB's main thing is to get off to a good start.
16:11And if Paf and Kohli can get off to a good start,
16:16RCB should run out winners.
16:18But having said that,
16:19Chennai Super Kings, they're not doing too badly either.
16:24Satish, a lot will depend on the fitness of MS Dhoni,
16:27who had been nursing a knee injury recently.
16:31I think he's going to be playing today.
16:32How important is he going to be to the team?
16:36Imran, this is something every cricketer,
16:41every sportsman, they would be having some injury
16:45and they know how to manage injuries.
16:48So, it's not that it's difficult.
16:50And I think Dhoni's knee injury
16:53has been in focus right from the…
16:55Even before the first match,
16:56there was a speculation that he won't be playing.
16:59So, having said that, he's been continuing to play.
17:01And he will play and again,
17:05he doesn't have to even come out at bat.
17:07With his tactics, he'll probably win.
17:10With his bowling changes, he makes the team that strong.
17:14But I would also…
17:16If I have to pick today's game,
17:17I would go with Chennai Super Kings
17:19because all through this week, if you look at,
17:21there have been upsets.
17:23Every team has lost their home game once,
17:26at least this week.
17:28The only exception being RCB, Mumbai and Sunrisers.
17:33Of course, Sunrisers played only one game.
17:36So, I think going by that trend,
17:38I would back Chennai for the simple reason.
17:41This week, Chennai lost at home.
17:45Yesterday, Gujarat lost at home.
17:47Almost everybody.
17:48Everybody excepting Mumbai.
17:49Pradeep, you said RCB didn't lose.
17:52No, that's why.
17:53A lot of average is going to catch up with them today.
17:55Today, they can't.
17:56That's why I am picking Chennai today.
18:00Anyway, RCB is my second favourite.
18:04So, either way, I am happy.
18:05Of course, Kohli is doing great.
18:07I am very happy for the way he is playing.
18:10So, I think the one point of concern for RCB
18:15should be the form of Dinesh Karthik.
18:17He has not been among the runs.
18:19So, this is one area where they were getting
18:21a lot of runs at the end towards the final overs.
18:25Which they gave that winning cushion
18:28or winning mark for RCB.
18:30Apart from that, I think it's an even mark.
18:32I would say 51 for Chennai and 49 for RCB.
18:36So, Satish is tipping his boys Chennai to win.
18:41There is a surprise.
18:42We didn't see that coming.
18:44Pradeep gives 64 to RCB.
18:47Well, I feel if you say in one word who would win,
18:51I would bet my money on RCB.
18:56You know, one interesting thing could be,
18:59probably we will know in a couple of hours time,
19:01is that if Josh Hazlewood is going to play,
19:06there was a news a week or 10 days ago
19:09that he has joined the team that was last Friday
19:15or sometime.
19:16I don't have any sort of other confirmation.
19:19But if he does, that would be a very interesting turn.
19:24Because RCB still has shown some concerns
19:29in their bowling unit.
19:31And with Josh joining the ranks,
19:33and if he is joining and if he is playing,
19:36it could make a huge difference.
19:39Yeah, that will be a huge difference certainly.
19:40Because their bowling has been struggling.
19:43And not just that, I think,
19:44the leg spinner, Varnesh Dho,
19:46Hassan Rai Hazaranga has also joined the squad.
19:48So, it's said that it can only be from the RCB bowling.
19:51Yeah.
19:53First match, he was a little off-colour,
19:55you know, giving a lot of short balls.
19:57But he is another great bowler, no doubt about that.
20:01Okay, I think we will leave it there.
20:03Great to chat with you, chaps, again.
20:05We will be back again next week.
20:07But in the meantime, head to gulfnews.com
20:09for all the latest news and reviews.
20:11And check us out on our social media channels.
20:13Thank you to Shyam, to Satish and to Pradeep.
20:16And we will see you next time.