An early entry into the press box at the Holkar Stadium in Indore put me within an earshot of a broadcast journalist’s funny anecdote. He was regaling the media managers with an incident from a seemingly bygone era, when Rajat Patidar was yet to heal Royal Challengers Bangalore’s aggregating trauma.
This cameraperson was aware of Rajat’s growing stature in Madhya Pradesh cricket, but since he wasn’t an avid follower and chose the vocation only to pay his bills, the presence of the man himself in an elevator didn’t register at all. He ended up asking Rajat, ‘’When is Rajat Patidar going to arrive? I’m hearing a lot of good things about him. Would like to see him in flesh.’’
The small party erupted in laughter and the tale was wrapped up with a character certification for Rajat. ‘’He’s a nice guy. Didn’t take any offense.’’ The same though cannot be said about the viewers who’d found time on a weekday to witness the homecoming of an IPL legend. As Rishi Miglani spun the ball to defeat Rajat’s flick, a collective scan for the nearest exit began, the mass eviction only delayed by a fool’s errand of a review. The spectators had been treated to Madhav Tiwari’s power, Ishan Afridi’s hustle, Aayush Mankar’s chicanery, and a rainbow laser show to boot, yet their deepest desire for an encore of what had glued them to the television over the last two months went unfulfilled.
All hopes were pinned on Rajat as Gwalior Cheetahs imploded to 98/5 in a chase of 222. It was a daunting proposition but surely not an impossible one for the hero who’d conquered the best in the business. It was his home turf, after all. Yet, as three reds turned up on screen, with Rajat already a step away from dissolving into the dressing room, the tournament opener of the Madhya Pradesh T20 league seemed to have had its final act. The talk of the town caught plumb by a youngster on debut. An emphatic pronouncement of cricket’s levelling tendency, much like how Parth Choudhary came crashing down to earth after dealing in sixes.
‘’Getting hit out of the park is part and parcel of T20 bowling, but as a leg-spinner I have to back my wicket-taking ability,’’ said Aayush, having pulled his length back a fraction to remove the set batter. ‘’If I go into a shell after being clobbered, I might be inviting more trouble.’’
Aayush was keeping an eye on the first innings. He gleaned that variable bounce was a feature of operation from the Adani End, especially the third-quarter ball that breeds indecision about whether to go forward or back. ‘’I observed that if you maintain a flat trajectory and nail that in-between length, you will get some purchase from the pitch,’’ Aayush adds.
His wrong ‘uns, besides dipping remarkably on the right-hander, gripped, with each of his three dismissals leading to an absolute mincemeat of the stumps. Off to a flier in the PowerPlay, Gwalior Cheetahs had no answers to the questionnaire that Mankar came up with once he got on a roll. Even the celebrations told a story. The rip-roaring aggression upon Parth’s ouster gave way to a been-there-done-that jig when his googlies breathed life into the defence. ‘’It is the countless hours of spot bowling that result in such moments of magic,’’ Aayush highlights, pointing towards muscle memory.
Their back broken, Gwalior Cheetahs could never recover, even if the number five position was held by an international campaigner. The situation was so dire that a couple of drag-downs from Aayush were also treated respectfully by Rajat, who has otherwise carved a niche for himself as an immediate enforcer. Perhaps the divergence from his natural game caused the downfall on the night, for Afridi reckons that adhering to your winning formula is key. In an innings where every other bowler rattled along at 9.50 runs an over or above, the quick returned an economy of 6.75 in his full quota while castling Yash Dubey, the common denominator in two half-century partnerships upfront.
With Chanchal Rathore and Ojaswa Yadav essaying their shots around him, Yash played second fiddle, rotating the strike by running hard between the wickets and pocketing six boundaries in a knock that was scratchy at the start, mellifluous in the middle, and uncharacteristic at the epilogue. His departure for 37 off 26 saw Ujjain Falcons squander momentum, with three overs passing by at a run a ball on a ground with a true pitch, short boundary dimensions and a fast outfield. If not for Madhav Tiwari picking up the slack, their total may well have remained in the doable territory.
It begs the question why Rajat exhausted Afridi’s overs before the death phase. ‘’Mangesh Yadav and Akash Singh generally operate well in those critical junctures; they couldn’t execute their plans properly on this occasion,’’ Afridi stated, throwing his weight behind his compatriots who splurged 92 in their 48 deliveries combined.
Left-arm orthodox Saumy Pandey’s final over worth 22 was the launchpad for Madhav’s fireworks, with his fifty materializing at a strike rate north of 200. Base, balance, bat speed – the Delhi Capitals signing ticked off all the prerequisites to launch many a lusty blow. ‘’We didn’t do ourselves any favours by attracting the slow over rate penalty and our fielding was not up to the mark,’’ Afridi felt, alluding to beginner’s nerves. ‘’It’s a fresh group of boys; we’re a work in progress.’’
He is, however, the more experienced of the lot. That wisdom was evident in his variations, both pertaining to release and length, that kept the batters guessing throughout. ‘’I discerned that the slower balls, if banged into the surface, were holding up a touch and adjusted accordingly. You can’t be predictable in this format.’’
To flip Afridi’s statement around, the format itself isn’t predictable. The pacers shared the spoils in the first dig whereas the tweakers claimed a big slice of the pie in the second. From 74/3, Gwalior Cheetahs folded for 129. Neither did Rajat’s counterpunch arrive, nor did the scribe’s interest in cricket, if an escape after the exchanged pleasantries is something to go by.
