IPL 2018: Shreyas Iyer says was ready for Shivam Mavi after 29-run over
Had MS Dhoni’s suggestion to add two extra runs to sixes hit out of the stadium been taken seriously, new Delhi Daredevils skipper Shreyas Iyer would have got his first Indian Premier League (IPL) century, in the 55-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.
The 23-year-old’s 40-ball 93 not out blew KKR away. Many of his 10 sixes were pure timing, soaring into the night at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground as he helped lift his team from the bottom of the points table, at least temporarily.
What a difference 48 hours can make! The Mumbai batsman, marked out for great things even as a boy and delivering on the promise at domestic and IPL level in the last few seasons, had searched for words soon after being named skipper after Gautam Gambhir quit on Thursday.
His Man-of-the-Match performance sealed a perfect captaincy debut. Prithvi Shaw, 18, the U-19 World Cup-winning skipper, set it up with a calm half-century after taking Daredevils to 57/0 in the powerplay overs with Colin Munro.
However, U-19 World Cup pacer, Shivam Mavi had a nightmare after being handed the last over. Iyer scored 28 of the 29 runs he conceded, hitting 6, 6, 6, 4 and 6. It atoned for the previous game, when he hit 12 in the final over chasing 17, to see his team fall four short against Kings XI Punjab.
Daredevils’ 219/4, the highest score of IPL 2018, came on a pitch that didn’t help spinners and dew didn’t appear to make it easier for KKR as they had hoped when Dinesh Karthik elected to bowl.
No individual glory
“I don’t think there was much difference in how we played (earlier), it’s just that we got a good start in the first powerplay. Everyone was aware of their roles and contributed really well. It was a team effort in all, not an individual game,” Iyer said at the media interaction.
Iyer’s ability to pick length early and play shots has marked the profilic scorer as a future India star and he was initially cautious before hammering the bowling.
Mavi felt the impact. “I didn’t play him before so it was fairly new as well,” Iyer said. “I knew he was going to try yorkers, so I was ready for half-volleys and prepared to hit them straight. Luckily I could execute, I was timing the ball really well.”
KKR’s spin ploy in powerplay failed. Piyush Chawla went for 18 runs in the third over and Sunil Narine for 11 in the fifth. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav bowled only two overs.
Narine’s chucking issues have hurt him. “Playing Kuldeep and Piyush Chawla wasn’t that difficult because I’ve played them in the domestic circuit as well. But I prepared for Sunil Narine. The majority of his deliveries nowadays is off-spin, so I was ready.”
Gambhir sat out himself
Daredevils put their faith mostly in pace early. Left-arm pacer Trent Boult struck twice after Glenn Maxwell’s spin fetched a bonus wicket in opener Chris Lynn.
Amit Mishra was held back to deny Narine the chance to tee off. The seasoned leg-spinner was decisive, taking 2/23 and controlling the late overs with Liam Plunkett, frustrating Andre Russell. The English pacer gave two runs in the 17th over, and only one off four deliveries to the Jamaican all-rounder.
Gambhir didn’t play, but Iyer said: “I didn’t make any call, to be honest. He himself made him sit out, which was really a courageous decision, with him being the captain in previous matches. My respect for him has really gone up.”
Delhi Daredevils’ next challenge will be MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in Pune on Monday. “It’s a really satisfying win, but we need to maintain momentum, not get complacent. We will cherish this victory, but going forward we need to follow the process which we have been doing in the last few days.”
