Sehwag & Gambhir Going The Uttappa Way

It is just unbelievable in T20 cricket for a team to put up a partnership of an unbeaten 83 runs despite reeling at 64/5 at one point of time. But, that was the fact of the match in the IPL encounter involving the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi Daredevils. Having achieved that feat against the Delhi Daredevils who were until then unbeaten in the tournament is just another feather in their cap. I all owe it to the series of flop shows from fellow batsmen Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag who have been playing this way since the tournament kicked in. Both the batsmen about whom the fans had great expectations have failed miserably.

This I can co relate with the Royal Challengers' batsman Robin Uttappa who was exchanged for Zaheer Khan with the Mumbai Indians but only to feel the heat for Vijay Mallya. Robin Uttappa is one such batsman who has had a series of flops and the list also includes Praveen Kumar and Kevin Pietersen as well in addition. The game that someone like Sehwag plays is indeed a treat to watch. But, with such disappointing knocks, not much could be expected. And one more aspect being that Sehwag is a captain who has led his team to three consecutive wins in this season.

Might be that Sehwag has so far done justice to the Delhi Daredevils team as a captain. But, he does not take any credit for his team's achievements absolutely as a batsman. This was clear after the match against the Rajasthan Royals when the Delhi Daredevils had their first taste of loss. For that matter, the Rajasthan Royals are not at all the team to beat this season depite being the defending champions. Had it not been for the likes of Yousuf Pathan and Greame Smith, the Delhi Daredevils would have made their way to their fourth consecutive victory this season.

Now, the only team in the tournament that has been unbeaten so far is the Deccan Chargers who have won 4 out of their four matches played. And, the teams are now a days fighting the matches with more mateurity than they did last year, when a record created today was broken in the very next match. However, things are not going too good for the Rajasthan Royals who were thrashed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their very first match. And after that, they are found winning only once in every two matches unlike they did last year where they dominated throughout the series like Australia did in the past two world cups.