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Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL
Hero to zero, out to six
Cricinfo staff
April 26, 2008
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Shane Watson: the new Flintoff? (file photo)
© Getty Images
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Hero to zero: A huge cheer greets Rahul Dravid before he faced his
first ball. It turned out to be the only delivery he faced too, as his
miscued pull went straight to deep square leg. His international record in
Bangalore is a wretched one, and there's been no reversal of fortune in
the IPL either.
No pulling power: The Bangalore boys were on the pull as eagerly as
bachelors on a Friday night, and most of them met the same fate -
dejection. Dravid was followed by Jacques Kallis and Ross Taylor in
perishing to the cross-bat swish across the line. No, those pristine
cheerleaders weren't impressed either.
Six or out?: In backyard games, six-and-out is a popular form of
dismissal, and the source of much argument. There was a similar situation at
the Chinnaswamy Stadium after Virat Kohli walloped a delivery from
Siddharth Trivedi to deep midwicket. His Under-19 team-mate, Ravindra
Jadeja, made ground to his left before a big leap, grab and acrobatic
roll near the boundary. Though he made the catch his hand
just brushed the plastic that covered the rope. After all that effort, it was a six.
Praveen the spoiler: Shane Warne had immaculate figures of 2-1-2-1
at one stage, but a streaky straight six and a huge biff over midwicket
ruined them somewhat. But for Praveen's big hitting, the Royal
Challengers' embarrassment would have been as acute as it was on the
opening day.
Home leggie turns it on: After missing the first two games, Anil
Kumble finally played his first IPL game. A huge roar went up when Dravid
gave him the ball after the seventh over, and though Shane Watson clubbed
his first two balls for four, what followed was typical Kumble. Accurate
and persistent, he was the only consolation in another poor effort from
the home side.
Is Manpower the new Flintoff?: In Kuala Lampur 18 months ago,
Matthew Hayden jokingly suggested that Watson could be part of Manpower.
It appears though that the man himself as loftier ambitions. "I'd love to
be the next Flintoff," he said before his last injury crisis and a superb
unbeaten 61 to follow a tidy spell of 2 for 20 was a good way to reinforce
his status as the IPL's bargain of the season ($125,000).
© Cricinfo
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