THE HIMALAYAN MAIL , JAMMU SPORTS MONDAY APRIL 07 2014 8 No shaking off the albatross for YUVRAJ Sunrisers prevail in On Friday, Shivam Sharma came on anyone. But Yuvraj carries the burden of as Kings XI Punjab's third-change his Rs 14 crore ($2.33 million) price tag. bowler to deliver his first over in senior He didn't ask for it, but it hangs like rain-hit game cricket. After conceding a single to AB Coleridge's albatross around his neck. On a frustrating evening with against intelligent bowling from de Villiers off his first ball, he bowled You might say his situation is compa- four rain stoppages, sensational Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Irfan five successive deliveries to Yuvraj rable to that of Fernando Torres when he death bowling and a cameo from Pathan and Dale Steyn. Singh. arrived at Chelsea for £50 million three Naman Ojha set up an eight- Their ending - 11 runs off the For four of those five deliveries, years ago and scored just one goal in 18 wicket win (Duckworth-Lewis last three overs - was in stark Yuvraj failed to put bat on ball. Twice he appearances in his first season there. But method) for Sunrisers contrast to the sprightly start, a was beaten by turn while trying to Chelsea's ability to spend money on Hyderabad against Delhi result of Kevin Pietersen's defend. Once he missed a sweep and sur- other players wasn't restricted by the Daredevils at the Feroz Shah cameo in his first IPL appear- vived a loud lbw shout. The one ball he extravagant transfer fee they paid for Kotla. This was the fourth con- ance as an opener. Pietersen was did manage to connect with popped into Torres. They already had a squad full of secutive loss for Daredevils on hesitant early on and in danger the off side off the leading edge of his big names, to which Torres was merely their home ground in this IPL. of a being run-out a few times, bat. It was a troubling innings from a one expensive addition. Sunrisers gave away just 22 but looked to be getting his troubled player. It came to an end in Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the in the last five overs, restricting groove back when he punched a Shivam's next over, with an edge to slip other hand, had Rs. 30.5 crore left to Daredevils to 143 for 7, before square drive off Bhuvneshwar off an attempted slog over the leg side. spend after retaining Virat Kohli, Chris their own chase was shortened Kumar for his first boundary. After that 11-ball torment, Yuvraj's stats Gayle and AB de Villiers. They had to first to 117 off 15 overs, then 97 After Quinton de Kock fell to for the IPL season looked like this: 144 build more than three-quarters of a full of 12 overs and finally 43 off Steyn, Pietersen took charge, runs in eight innings at an average of squad with that amount. They splashed five. smacking a six and four each off 20.57 and a strike rate of 102.12. 46% of it on one player, Yuvraj. It was Daredevils nearly clawed Karn Sharma and Moises Right through the season, Yuvraj has clearly bound to impact how the rest of back into the game, as Rahul Henriques in successive overs to struggled for fluency, struggled to hit the their squad shaped up. Shukla dismissed Aaron Finch guide Daredevils to their best gaps. He sits in 27th place among the Yuvraj is clearly in terrible form, and with Sunrisers still needing 18 Powerplay period of the tourna- highest run-getters list for the season, but it might be best for both himself and his off 10 but Naman Ojha and ment. Against Mishra, though, he's 10th on the list of batsmen who have team if they leave him out of the next David Warner ensured there he mistimed a drive straight to faced the most dot balls. few games. Considering how much they were no further hiccups. Warner when Mayank Agarwal was dis- cover, giving the bowler his Among those ten batsmen, all of spent on him, though, doing so would be put away a full toss and Ojha 100th IPL wicket. whom have faced 70 or more dot balls an admission of botched auction strate- missed but Daredevils held followed it up with a slog over Duminy back and sent Laxmi Mayank Agarwal squandered this season, only Virender Sehwag (3.17 gy. deep midwicket that brought the a start leaving the rebuilding to dots per over) has played out dot balls There's no harm in admitting a mis- Shukla in at No. 5. The all- equation to six off the last over. rounder added 55 runs with Dinesh Karthik, who scored 39 more frequently than Yuvraj (3.06 dots take, but who would Royal Challengers Ojha's six off Laxmi Shukla took off 30. Karthik kept the strike per over). But Sehwag has hit a four or bring in, considering the thinness of their Dinesh Karthik but the innings Sunrisers home with four balls struggled for impetus, specially turning early on and made the six once every 5.14 balls. Yuvraj's corre- squad? Looking through the names in it, to spare. most of a reprieve at fine leg to sponding rate is once every 8.29 balls. there's only one that stands out. He is a after the first, hour-long rain Daredevils in many ways break. Both Karthik and Shukla scoop Steyn for a six over the Only David Warner has found the left-hand batsman, like Yuvraj, and he is ended up paying the price for same region. He swatted Karan boundary less frequently (once every 10 an India Under-19 star, like Yuvraj was. fell in the 17th over, leaving steadfastly pigeon-holing two of Duminy and Kedar Jadhav 18 Sharma for a six and a four after balls). But he has only played out 2.20 There is no guarantee Vijay Zol will bat their best batsmen this season as the resumption of play but fell to dot balls every over. like that fresh-faced, teenage Yuvraj, but balls between them to give finishers. They were a comfort- Daredevils some sort of a finish. a well-judged catch by Steyn at These are clear signs that Yuvraj is you would have to think he would do able 87 for 2 in the ninth over the long-off boundary. struggling for form. It could happen to better than Yuvraj's current avatar. Unsurprisingly, they floundered Mumbai's home Ganguly advises captain Kohli, and Praveen's nightmare Kohli has to find a way to stay fresh - Ganguly domestic T20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali around India and around the world. But we were streak ended at 10 Royal Challengers Bangalore began IPL 2014 Trophy, Praveen said. "I played the Syed Mushtaq looking forward to giving back to the Chepauk with two wins in two games. Since then, they've Ali Trophy and a few corporate matches. My only [crowd]. We are devastated. as we were really It's a tight Saturday prime-time IPL match involving the two one match in six. Their captain, Virat Kohli, India motive was to get as much match practice as I can looking forward to those games. highest profile franchises in the tournament. Guess who deliv- and limited-overs' golden boy over the past couple under my belt. I wanted to put in all my efforts and "Though Ranchi has been home away from ers when it's a big game? MS Dhoni is perhaps the best finisher of years, has three ducks in eight innings. Former keep myself in sync with the game. I knew my home and we have played there beautifully, there in the limited-overs game, and when Chennai Super Kings India captain Sourav Ganguly thinks the two are shoulder, which had troubled me in the past [and was an element of returning back to the Chennai needed a big hit in the final over, he duly obliged, as he has so interconnected, with the challengers of leading kept him out of the India team recently], would faithful. We won't be able to do that this year. We many times in the past. It came down to 11 off the last over, and Royal Challengers affecting Kohli's batting. only get better the more I bowl. will carry that with us and hopefully put up a cou- Dhoni responded by calmly whacking a six over deep midwick- "Kohli is realising that the combination of cap- "I was extremely happy when I got a call from ple of good performances at Ranchi and move on. et before wrapping up the victory with three balls to spare. taincy and batsmanship is a bit different and he Mumbai Indians to represent them in the IPL. I But as I said the team is sad not to be going back The last time Mumbai Indians lost an IPL game at the must quickly find a way to make that mental couldn't sleep that night, and all of a sudden, I to our fan base." Vohra will have to wait his turn - Bangar Wankhede Stadium was back in 2012, so long ago that their adjustment," Ganguly wrote in his column in became a lot more positive. I have been playing openers were Sachin Tendulkar and Herschelle Gibbs. The 10- The biggest surprise to come out of the fran- Times of India. "It's not a tough thing to do and my international cricket for close to seven years now, game winning streak at home was built on muscular batting and chises' player retentions this year was the case of advice to him would be to decide on a plan [for the ment for the injured Zaheer Khan, said not being and it was a great moment for me when I realised depth in the bowling, neither of which were in evidence today.