Hard lengths are the flavour of the season in Indore, with speed merchants in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League peppering the 6-8m zone to put a kibosh on the pinch-hitters at a high-scoring venue. ‘’I’ve been playing at the Holkar Stadium for a very long time. There’s always help for fast bowlers on these red-soil wickets, especially at the beginning of any tournament when the pitches are fresh,’’ Puneet Datey, the leader of Jabalpur Royal Lions’ pace attack, informs. ‘’While there is purchase on offer hitting the right areas is crucial as a bowling unit. Give the SG Test Limited Edition the chance to deviate. It does play tricks to make life difficult for the batter.’’
Chambal Ghariyals, spearheaded by the express Avesh Khan, blazed a trail as the Malwa Stallions’ top-order bowed down to their tidy channel. Mangesh Yadav, signed for 12 lacs by Gwalior Cheetahs, netted the big fish Aniket Verma with an angling delivery that cramped the IPL returnee for room. Pankaj Patel is the latest exponent of the lifter, as Atharv Joshi and Karan Tahilyani found out the hard way. The steep bounce and tinge of movement was too hot to handle for the right-handers, leaving Indore Pink Panthers grasping for breath at 14/3.
It elbowed them so jarringly into a corner that despite the presence of Venkatesh Iyer, a run-a-ball team fifty was all they could manage. The captain had to absorb the pressure like a sponge and quell the chaos before opening up gradually. The plan seemed to be working until Rahul Batham foxed his opposite number for 33 off 40. ‘’When a player of that caliber occupies the crease the bowlers are always on guard. He was trying to be there for his team but I’m happy that we were able to keep the damage to a minimum,’’ Puneet adds.
To better appreciate the demolition job carried out by Jabalpur Royal Lions, a look into the rear view mirror is imperative. At the auction table their north star was diversity. Pankaj brought in the left-arm angle at 3.6 lacs, all-rounder Ritik Tada made for a decent first-change choice, and Akshay Sharma’s hit-the-deck skillset rendered him an ideal foil for the experienced Puneet. Should an injury throw a spoke in their wheel, considering the lack of breathing space in the schedule of the peak summer event, Ritwik Diwan could be a straight swap.
Already in their ranks as a retention was skipper Rahul, an intelligent, battle-hardened quick. ‘’It is a nine-match tournament, a couple more if you enter the knockouts. We knew it was going to take a toll on our pace battery. Having enough resources is ideal from a workload management point of view,’’ Puneet notes. ‘’Three cheers to the owners and support staff for assembling such a well-rounded squad.’’
It was only fitting that the wily old fox hailing from Bhopal, with 114 domestic games under his belt, drew first blood. The away-nibbler from Puneet caught Siddharth Patidar on the crease as his hands flailed away from the body during an attempted backfoot punch. From the Aditya Birla end Pankaj was spewing venom. He bent his back to get the ball to jump at the right-handers in the PowerPlay, returning at the death to cap off an exhibition of T20 bowling with a yorker that terminated Shivam Shukla’s cameo.
‘’Pankaj is a street-smart operator,’’ Puneet lauds. ‘’He comes from a tennis-ball background in Dewas but has transitioned well to feature consistently in Madhya Pradesh’s U19 and U23 setup. Not a one-trick pony by any means, and being a left-arm he incorporates a different dimension. I think he has a very bright future ahead.’’
While Shivam carted left-arm orthodox Nayan Mewada towards the end to push Indore Pink Panthers to 148/8, a solid partnership in the middle phase was driving aspirations of an above-par score. Saransh Surana was an able company for Iyer, with a slap that rendered sweeper cover a mere spectator bearing testimony. He pulled Rahul for a brute of a six as the gunshot crack of leather on willow registered as music for the ears. A soft dismissal against Tada broke the momentum again, with non-striker Iyer throwing his head back in disbelief to demonstrate the value of that union. It followed a similar script: hard length into the body, surprise at the extra bounce, catch by a fielder in the ring.
In cricketing parlance, such a delivery is termed a ‘heavy ball’. Javagal Srinath was an early pioneer whereas Akash Madhwal from the current crop belongs to that exclusive club. Since cross-learning has been a theme at MPT20, be it Ujjain Falcons unleashing Aayush Mankar from the Adani End after seeing the ball’s low trajectory or Jabalpur Royal Lions inserting the opposition having understood that the jury was out on what exactly is a defendable total, Roshan Kewat sang from the same hymn sheet as his counterparts. A tight grouping around the fourth stump had Arpit Gaud struggling with timing before Abhishek Bhandari and the confident-looking Ritik succumbed to the skiddy nature of his operation.
‘’I’ve been following Roshan from the division matches. He’s been quite successful at that level,’’ Puneet credited the youngster. ‘’His hard work reflects in the way he’s performing. His nippy pace and strong work ethic holds him in good stead.’’
Ritik shared a 63-run partnership with Ajay Rohera, the binding glue to Jabalpur Royal Lions’ chasing effort. However, the fact that the equation came down to almost a run-a-ball 24 pointed at the quality of the seamers on show. Sidhant Agravwal and Anvesh Chawla tallied 2/53 in their eight overs to complement the promising Roshan whose spell of 2/22 comprised a maiden.
‘’He’ll mature the more he plays, exposing himself to pressure situations. Reading the batter, adapting to the surface, developing game awareness,’’ highlighted Puneet, a sounding board for up-and-coming talent. ‘’I’m really happy to witness extraordinary fast bowlers emerging from the feeder system.’’
