Shikhar Dhawan (45 runs off 42 balls) played a steady hand for the Delhi Capitals after leg-spinner Amit Mishra scalped four to restrict the Mumbai Indians to 137/9, the lowest total in the Indian Premier League 2021 in Chennai tonight.
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00:00Absolutely absorbing. And you rightly nailed it. It was like a chess game. You needed to play smart cricket. And that's what Rohit Sharma said.
00:15Hello, beautiful people of the Gulf News Community. This is Straight Back with Gulf News and Mr. Cricket UAE.
00:20We have a panelist, Shyam as well as Sahil. And we're going to have a cracker of a show with a very nail-biting match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi.
00:28Over to you, Shyam. Before we get into the details, Anis, tell us about the competition.
00:35Well, every day you log on to the Gulf News page, predict the winner and you walk away with two
00:39beautiful jackets as well as three months of subscription, Shyam. Thank you, Anis. Today
00:46was more an absorbing match than an exciting match, isn't it? We expected more of a thriller
00:51and it turned out to be more of a chess game. What do you think, Anis?
00:57Absolutely absorbing. And you rightly nailed it. It was like a chess game. You needed to play smart
01:01cricket. And that's what Rohit Sharma said. That they are getting a good start. But their middle
01:06order is not capitalizing. And I keep repeating the same thing. On the Chennai wicket, after 10
01:11overs, the ball gets softer. And the guys who are set needs to make sure that they stay till the end.
01:15So, who was at the duty of Surya Kumar as well as Rohit? They keep throwing their wickets away
01:20for going for the glory shot. And in the end, probably they were short of 10 runs.
01:26True. It's very, very true. In fact, I was very impressed by the Delhi's approach.
01:31They cut out all the risk and they just played very sensible cricket. What do you think, Sahil?
01:39Can you repeat the question again? Sorry.
01:43Do you think that Delhi played very sensible cricket today? Like Anis was saying, they cut
01:49out all the risk. They didn't go for the glory shots. They played what you call very, very smart
01:54cricket. Absolutely. This wicket was made for Steve Smith and all, and Shikhar Dhawan to take
02:01it sensibly. Yes, Prithvi Shaw is a guy who is not scared to give his wicket away. He is a guy
02:06who takes advantage of the powerplay. And they did lose him early. But you know that 33 runs
02:10of Steve Smith was very useful. Yes, he did get out as an LBW. But he played really well. And
02:16then towards the end, Lalit Yadav, he may have scored 22 or 26 balls. But this guy, he did a good
02:22job by taking it till the end. Obviously, Shikhar shouldn't have thrown his wicket away. He should
02:26have played till the end. But he also did get out in the end. Hetma, even Pant got out actually,
02:30which was not acceptable. Being a captain, he's got to take it till the end. But give credit,
02:35you know, Hetma also was there. And that's how Delhi's batting depth is so good. It showed that
02:42they were there to rescue the game.
02:45Anil, if you go back to Mumbai's innings, it was one of the better starts. Actually,
02:51in the 7th over, they were like 62 for 2. That is when Surya Kumar Yadav got out. After that,
02:58then they just collapsed. What do you think went wrong there?
03:04I need to give credit to leg spinner Amit Mishra, who turned the game around. First, obviously,
03:10they lost Surya Kumar Yadav at 67 for 2 at the end of 7 overs, where he tried to be a
03:15little more audacious. That's what happens when you are in form. Surya Kumar Yadav,
03:19as I have been repeatedly saying, he's been the form player for Mumbai. And he is riding
03:25that way where he feels that he can get away with everything. But sometimes, you might end up losing
03:31wickets. You might end up losing your wicket playing that audacious shot. But after Surya
03:37Kumar Yadav's wicket, it was probably the responsibility of captors Rohit Sharma to
03:43ensure that he stays till the end. Because as I said, after 10 overs, batting gets difficult.
03:48And the guys like the Pandya brothers, as well as Pollard, they are not used to playing the
03:55single-double. They are the guys who like to go for the big shot. So, Rohit Sharma should have
03:59ensured that he hands over the baton to Hardik or the Pollard at the end of 15 overs, so that then
04:06they can play the finishing touch. That's how Mumbai Indians play. But it was not to be. Credit
04:10to Amit Mishra. He bowled beautiful leg-spinners. And I have always believed, leg-spinners are
04:14match-winners. They might leak runs, but they get you precious wickets.
04:19You are spot-on. Amit Mishra gave us more proof of that. I completely agree with what you said
04:26about Rohit Sharma. He should have batted at least till the 15th over, if they were to get a decent
04:31total. Probably, if he had batted till the 15th over, they could have run away with the match.
04:37Sahil, what do you think Mumbai should do from here on?
04:42Well, it's obvious. Yes, they have to now depend way too much on Surya Kumar Yadav,
04:49Rohit Sharma, and maybe Quintin de Kock. He's yet to fire for them. He got out early today again.
04:55But now they have to now learn. Suppose if Surya Kumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma get out before 10
04:59overs. As always, Mr Cricket mentions that after 10 overs, it's going to be tough. The pitch is
05:04going to get tough. So, Rohit Sharma has to stay there. Also, Surya Kumar Yadav, you know how
05:08reliable of a batsman he is. He shouldn't be getting out in such a way he got out today.
05:13Because as mentioned earlier, Pollard, Pandya, they are the guys who go for big shots. They are
05:17not the ones who go for single doubles. So, Rohit Sharma has to lead from the front and not give his
05:22wicket away. I think he should have not given his wicket away to Amit Mishra today by going for a
05:27slog. Anish, what do you make of Delhi's approach today? Because they are actually
05:33flamboyant batsmen who are stroke makers. And actually, they curbed all their instincts and
05:38played very, very smart cricket. So, do you think they have turned the corner or will it really
05:46catapult them to the title this year? Well, one thing important what Delhi did that they learned
05:51from the mistakes of KKR and Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians. They were playing in Mumbai.
05:57They were playing on flat tracks. But when they came to Chennai, they did their homework. And I
06:01have to give credit to the think tank that is Ricky Ponting, Mohammad Kaif and of course, the
06:05captain and the senior players that they analysed what mistakes the opposition were making against
06:10Mumbai Indians. And mind you, they went in with Laxmanarayan Mishra and kept Mumbai at bay. You
06:18know, Mumbai were generally scoring 150 and 160. In this innings, they scored 137. And that also,
06:24thanks to that partnership between Ishan and Ishan Kishan and Jayanth Yadav, which brought them to
06:28this score. Because at one time, Mumbai were probably 87 for 6. So, they did their homework.
06:32Now, if you ask me whether they will get the confidence to aim at the title, yes, it might.
06:38But I will be very honest and upfront to say, Mumbai Indians is the team to beat in this
06:44IPL. Even though they have lost this match, they have lost probably two games. But mind you,
06:49they are a team. If you see, even in the end, it looked like they might still pull off a win.
06:54So much of confidence they have. You know, all the players, whether it's the Bolts, the Bumrahs,
06:58the Jayanth Yadavs or the Pandya brothers, they come up with something. If you give them a window
07:04of opportunity, they are like the Australian team. They will grab it with both hands and make sure
07:08that they dent the opposition. Today, it was not the day. We need to see how they manage them in
07:13the knockout. If they are able to get them in the knockout, okay, they are now ifs and buts.
07:16But Mumbai Indians is the team to beat. And Delhi, I will have to probably repeat the same
07:21thing if they have to beat Mumbai Indians for the title.
07:25Sahil, do you agree? Because Delhi has won their first match against Mumbai in six
07:31encounters. So do you agree with Mr. Cricket's assessment?
07:37Absolutely. You know, they are a team. Look at them. They have so much depth in their squad.
07:44In their bench, they have Ajinkya Rane, Nokia and many more players. And Steve Smith somehow
07:49makes it into the starting 11. So, you know, look at that squad. It's a wonderful squad.
07:54And definitely, like last season, they came in the final. I am pretty sure they are title
07:59contenders. Don't get carried away with this, my son, Sahil. Daddy is always daddy. And they
08:04will come back. Anyway, it was very, very, very, what do you call it? For a cricketing
08:11connoisseur, it was a very good match. So we have a doubleheader coming up tomorrow. We have
08:16Punjab Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad. And we have Kolkata Knight Riders taking on
08:24Chennai Kings. What are you guys' predictions? Anish, go first, please.
08:29Well, Punjab versus KKR, I would rather… I think Punjab is playing Hyderabad.
08:34Hyderabad. So for that match, because they are playing in Chennai, you know, now Sunrisers
08:40Hyderabad will be low on confidence. But I will still back them because their spinners are much
08:44more better than compared to the Punjab. But strange things happen. But I will still back
08:49Sunrisers to beat. For the second game, probably Sahil's favourite team KKR, he can say much
08:53better about how they are going to compete against CSK.
08:56All right, Sahil. We will give you the chance to pick the winner of the KKR-CSK match.
09:02You can pick any team other than CSK.
09:06To be honest, as much as I want to say KKR, I don't think… I personally don't like their
09:11squad at all. So I have to go for CSK.
09:15But why? Because you have Russell. You have Russell.
09:17They are a very good side.
09:21If you are going to say Russell and all… Since last season, I haven't seen Russell do anything.
09:26I am going to be honest here.
09:27CSK is going to bully KKR tomorrow. CSK is going to bully KKR tomorrow.
09:31Captain Morgan…
09:32No, no, no. I am just kidding. Because the wickets in Mumbai will help the KKR batsmen.
09:38They were not liking the Chennai wickets.
09:40So, if I have to be very honest, as much as CSK go in favourites in the match,
09:45but the wicket at Mumbai will help KKR.
09:48Because they enjoy the ball coming under the bat.
09:50And the guys like the Russells, the Owen Morgans and their openers,
09:54they will all love it, batting on the Mumbai track.
09:57I agree there. Probably, that is the time for KKR batsmen to bloom.
10:04Yes.
10:06So, let's wait and watch. I think two interesting matches on the cards tomorrow.
10:10And my pick would be Punjab against Sunrisers.
10:13And I expect KKR to turn around this time.
10:17I think CSK is still not their asset. So, I would put my money on Kolkata.
10:23Thank you very much.
10:24My time.
10:24And before you go, you guys got anything else to add here?
10:29I just want to tell that everybody who is watching this show,
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10:55Thank you very much, everyone.
10:56Let's meet up tomorrow after the doubleheader.
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