A team falls from 100 for 1 to 149, the rise of a wicket-keeper batsman, and the missing of a second successive hat-trick

By K.R. Nayar

Three things stood out in the Rajasthan Royals versus Royal Challengers Bangalore match at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday (September 29, 2021).  A collapse from 100 for 1 to just 149, Harshal Patel misses a second successive hat-trick, and another wicketkeeper-batsman in Srikar Bharat rises.

Harsh Patel in action watched by Umpire Anantha Padmanabhan and non striker Evin Lewis. Photo:IPL/BCCI

It was a Royal collapse. From a strong 100 for 1, Rajasthan Royals could muster only 149 runs and gave the match on a platter to Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bangalore deserved to win by seven wickets for the Royal Challenge they displayed to get back into the game.

Funny things happen in the IPL

Rajasthan’s captain Sanju Samson, after the match, said: “Funny things can happen in IPL. We need to keep believing till the last match we play.” It was indeed funny the way his team’s innings ended. What was also funny was the fact that in all the other matches, it was Samson who was scoring almost half the score of his team. And strangely, when others in his team chipped in with scores, he failed to play a good inning.

Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave a good start for Rajasthan Royals. Photo: RR Twitter

Bangalore's bowling display was excellent, especially that of spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who bagged the Man of the Match award. One wondered whether he was out to prove that it was a mistake to ignore him for the oncoming T20 World Cup.

Patel misses a hat-trick for a sixth time and twice in succession

Soon after Bangalore’s Harshal Patel produced a hat-trick against Mumbai Indians on Sunday (September 26, 2021), he had said that “in the IPL, I was close to a hat-trick five times before, and I got lucky the sixth time.” In the last over against Bangalore, he once again missed a hat-trick, thus swelling his hat-trick misses to six. Had he bagged the wicket of Kartik Tyagi with the fourth ball of the last over after taking the wickets of Riyan Parag and Chris Morris off the second and third deliveries, it would have been a second successive hat-trick for him.

Patel went on to take another wicket off the last ball to make it three wickets in the final over and take his wicket tally in this IPL season to 26. What makes his performance special is the fact that he has broken all records by an uncapped player in an IPL season with 26 wickets. He shattered the record set by his teammate Yuzvendra Chahal in 2015 when he bagged 23 wickets before earning the Team India cap. In this match, it was a ‘Triple Treat’ from Patel.

Rise of another wicketkeeper batsman

There has been no dearth of wicketkeeper batsmen in India. The latest to join the list and someone who can be considered for India’s wicketkeeper’s slot is Bangalore’s Srikar Bharat.

Srikar Bharat speaks at the post match press conference. Photo: IPL/BCCI

The confidence with which he batted and the strokes he played during the course of his 44 were brilliant. He was also exceptionally acrobatic behind the wickets. After his knock, he got one of the finest compliments from his teammate and legendary player Glenn Maxwell. When asked about Bharat, Maxwell said: “Bharat is a genuine top-class batter and the way he has gone about his innings is outstanding.”  Bharat hails from Andhra Pradesh and there was a time when players from Andhra Pradesh had to struggle to get into even the South Zone squad in the Duleep Trophy.