There is a band that does not neglect first-class cricket for every tale of youngsters eager to master the reverse-sweep before the straight drive as they dream of Indian Premier League glory.
Red-ball cricket helps hone discipline, maturity, and steadily polishing abilities, while T20 demands specialists.
The eight-year first-class career for Maharashtra by Rahul Tripathi shows more grit, stressing the importance of domestic cricket.
A horde of younger players may look at India’s berths, but when the opportunity comes, it has to be about delivering, like Royals’ Rahul Tewatia.
Since his 2017 debut, his hard-hitting attracted attention in IPL, but he was traded to KKR for two modest seasons for Rajasthan Royals.
On Wednesday, the former champions broke a habit. After 27 runs in four games, Sunil Narine was eventually dropped as a pinch-hitting opener, promoting Tripathi for the very first time.
After KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik chose to bat on a sporting Abu Dhabi pitch, Ravindra Jadeja did not bowl, so fine were the other Chennai Super Kings bowlers.
Jadeja was still a risky man, almost running out of Tripathi three times early before a spectacular relay catch attempt.
KKR was pleased to have Tripathi dig in, top-scoring with 81 (51b, 8×4, 3×6) to take the team all out to 167, earning a 10-run victory. As CSK bowlers varied pace and bowled just short of range, pegging them back, the other batsmen struggled.
It was a trick bowler embraced from both sides, and KKR cashed in as the pitch slowed down further.
CSK’s former champions won just two out of five games. Chasing goals, however, is their power, and they did that in all those games as well.
In the 10-wicket win over KXIP, Shane Watson scored a 40-ball 50 however skipper MS Dhoni, at No.4, dropped cheaply as KKR bowlers reined it in. Russell tied Kedar Jadhav down to one run off three deliveries to get 26 off the last over, leaving Jadeja’s 6,4, 4 in vain.
The pitch demanded the orthodox approach of the classy Shubman Gill. One of the two Shardul Thakur cross-seam delivery that drew worked, though the KKR opening nicked.
The other was Andre Russell, a big-hitter. His dismissal drained out the energy of the late-hitting KKR. Dwayne Bravo has been overshadowed by Russell, who should stop him. In the last 19 deliveries, just 27 runs came in.
MS Dhoni dropped Piyush Chawla for his first IPL 2020 game, selecting fellow leg-spinner Karn Sharma. Sharma denied the freedom to batsmen with differences in length and speed.
On Wednesday, Bravo, who turned 37, then showed why CSK banked on ageing stars with 3/37, including two wickets in a five-run last over.
