Like the IPL or hate it, yesterdays game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians produced something special. There were several talking points produced by this match. Firstly I would like to state that Chris Gayle stole the show with 92 runs not out whilst injured. This was a special innings just confirming that he is the most destructive batsman in the Indian Premier League.
A mention also has to go out to Jasprit Bumrah who is yet to play any first class matches but made his debut yesterday. What a feeling it must be to play your first match with Sachin Tendulkar and Rikky Ponting in the dressing room. His first wicket was that of Virat Kohli, what a feeling this must have been.
The real point of interest for me was to see two of the greatest batsmen in cricket history bat together. This is something special that only competitions like the IPL could produce. At one stage both Ponting and Sachin were batting whilst Murali was bowling. This was the scene that all cricket fans dream of.
The partnership looked pretty good, the only way that RCB looked like getting either of them out was through a run out. Eventually that is what happened Sachin fell first, Ponting soon after being stumped. The partnership looked good but there has to be much more to come from these two.
In my opinion they should be opening together, although many of the pundits on the TV disagreed. Dinesh Karthik did perform yesterday but I believe that he is the number five batsman in the team. I would have put Rohit Sharma up at number three, Ryudu at number four then Karthink and Pollard swapping depending on the game situation. Yesterday I am in no doubt that if Pollard was promoted up the order MI would have won the game. He faced two balls only, this is something they need to look at.
The first match between KKR and Delhi was not competitive at all, this was the game to start the tournament off.
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