00:00You can't win an IPL title which is so strongly contested by changing and chopping.
00:30Hi Matt and hi everybody. Emphatic 10-wicket victory but before I come to the match
00:42I hope all of you beautiful people are logging on to our govnews page
00:46and predicting the winner every day and you walk away with two beautiful jackets
00:50and three months of subscription free.
00:51Cool and hi to you other guys as well. Now we've discussed so far about it being early days
01:01and RCB getting off to a flying start. Obviously they won again four from four,
01:08they've already beaten the defending champions, they've now got a great net run rate
01:12but I think tonight's match made a bit more of a statement just in the manner of the win.
01:18How did you see it yourself Anas?
01:21Well, a 10-wicket victory with 21 balls to spare will give a lot of confidence to RCB,
01:27captain and the whole team and their fans that they have done this for the first time
01:33and moreover, you know, four victories apart from the first game have all come good for them.
01:40So, Virat Kohli must be definitely eyeing the playoffs and would definitely like to be on
01:46the top two so that in case if there is a slip-up in the first game, they still have another bite
01:51of the cherry but RCB in this tournament look hands down and better than the rest of the teams.
01:58Okay and Gautam, obviously you were watching it from over there in India. How did you see it pan
02:02out and what do you think it means in terms of what are the other teams thinking?
02:09Yes, I mean, you see the kind of wicket where the match was played, RCB enjoyed playing the
02:15cricket there and before that on the sluggish Chennai track, they came in with three out of
02:21three. So, they're really looking good. I mean, as I keep saying that this may be early days but they
02:27need something between 14 to 16 points to make the playoffs and now they are on eight.
02:35So, they're looking good. Okay and Sahil, again you normally root for one team or another
02:43in every match. How did it go for you this evening?
02:47I mean, I had predicted RCB would win. I just didn't know that they would win quite easily
02:54and it was a matter of time that Devdutt Padikkal had to score. I mean, unfortunately,
02:59the guy had tested positive before the tournament started. So, he was not at full flow. So, it's
03:03just a matter of time and he showed it today and Virat Kohli also getting good amount of runs,
03:08confidence. When the captain is scoring runs, good for the team. So, yeah, well played RCB.
03:15Of course, of course and I would say Anish, you mentioned there as well about the 10-wicket
03:21victory. That's pretty good going in its own right in a T20 match but as your son just mentioned
03:29there, the fact that Padikkal was coming back and the fact that Kohli had a point to prove,
03:33just how emphatic was it that the two guys carried their bats all the way through?
03:38Yes, before that, I definitely want to touch base upon the bowlers. You know,
03:43RCB always had a problem with their bowling attack. But like we mentioned before,
03:47Mohammad Siraj after the Australian tour has looked a totally different bowler. And he gave
03:52them that initial breakthrough of getting the dangerous Butler out and then followed up with
03:56couple of more wickets. And then you have Harshal Patel, even though he was a bit expensive today,
04:02but managed to pick wickets. And that's the key for RCB holding RR on this flat wicket to below
04:10180. And when you talk about Devdutt Padikkal, you know, he was in form, red-hot form before
04:15coming into this tournament. Even though he tested positive, he showed that he is good. He was
04:21RCB's highest scorer in the last year's tournament. And again, he is carrying on the good work. So,
04:27the lot of burden from Virat Kohli and De Villiers has been taken by Glenn Maxwell and Padikkal.
04:34Okay. And Gautam, they say that success breeds success. As you mentioned there as well,
04:41as they go on to other stadiums and other surfaces, will this confidence give them not
04:49only an extra bounce themselves, but put an extra step of fear into the other opposition?
04:55Yes. See, this performance graph started showing an upward curve from last year itself. But this
05:03year, they've plugged in the gaps so well, as Anish Bhai was saying, you know, Shiraj is a
05:09different bowler and you've got this giant Kyle Jameson. He's not that quick, but the height from
05:15where he brings in the deliveries, his Yorkers will be lethal as they go along. So, you know,
05:23the team is looking good. I mean, maybe just a couple of iffy places, like not every day will
05:29be like today. So, who comes in at number three? That's a question. Number four will, of course,
05:34be AB. Then you have Glenn Maxwell. So, it's quite an awesome lineup, which should instill
05:42the fear into their rivals. You know, Gautam, since you mentioned about that number three,
05:47I had read about they might consider Alan Finn if they get flat tracks like what they found
05:54today. There's a guy from New Zealand who in his first last match against Bangladesh had scored
05:5970-odd of 30 runs of 30 balls. So, he is a good bet if they decide to have another foreign player
06:06at the cost of probably Kane Richardson in case they want to strengthen their batting further.
06:12They just may because last month they played with three for overseas players. I mean, that is
06:17quite a rarity. So, yes, they're looking good. Okay. And obviously, we were talking earlier about
06:25being top versus bottom. Rajasthan are now languishing already, six points behind the
06:30leaders. Are they in trouble? Yes, to be very honest, they are. First of all, you know, they
06:38have been quite badly dented with the absence of Jofra Achar, who was injured, and then the injury
06:44of Ben Stokes. And then in the middle of the tournament, you know, one player walking away
06:50because of fatigue of the biosecure bubble, that is Liam Livingstone. So, this definitely
06:56dents the confidence of a team because they've lost three good foreign players. Now, in the
07:01backup of a foreign player, when I look at, they have Joss Futtler and David Miller. I can't think
07:07about anybody else unless Kyle or Gautam can say they have somebody in the backup as a foreign player.
07:14The rest of them are bowlers, and of course, Morris. But, you know, Anish, I'll take this
07:20opportunity to ask you that, see, Joss Futtler becomes their main batsman in the absence of
07:27Ben Stokes not being there. So, what do you think? I mean, today, what was the undue hurry
07:34in trying to make room and trying to go for the chip shot, very bold? What do you make of this?
07:40I'll be upfront in making the statement that Joss Futtler probably felt that this is a wicket
07:46where they need to score about 220 as we saw yesterday's match. Also, it didn't look secure
07:52at one time. So, sometimes, you know, you are in that hurry. But I remember MS Dhoni saying that
07:58the first three overs in Mumbai, where the ball is new and there is a little bit of steam or swing
08:03movement, you need to see it off because you can make it up in the back end. Because hitting sixes
08:09in Mumbai is the easiest ground compared to a wicket. So, Joss Futtler, if he can,
08:15probably go back to the drawing board, have a word with Kumar Sangakkara, the legend,
08:19that what mistakes he is making. Because he has got the capacity, in fact, rather the capability
08:25to make up for that lost time in the early overs. And his wicket, along with Sanju Samson,
08:31can take Rajasthan Royals to a bigger total. And mind you, now, I don't know how many matches more
08:36they are going to play at this ground. But their next match, if I'm not wrong, they move to
08:44Delhi, which is going to be slow wickets.
08:48Delhi is painfully slow.
08:52I've heard about Delhi, they move to next.
08:56But then, it's got very short boundaries. That's all. I mean, we sit scary at the Potla
09:02or Arun Jaitley Stadium, whatever you call it, for fours and sixes.
09:08Sahil, you want to share something?
09:14I would want to say, now, I mean, I guess if they bring a player in, there is a quarantine. And I
09:20don't know if the board wants to do that. But they have to bring a foreign player. And I mean,
09:25I was searching and I think they can get a player like Alex Hales. You know, a hard hitter.
09:30He split with the IPL. So, yes, there is a 14-day quarantine. But come on,
09:36now you got to take the risk. Your team is anyways doing bad.
09:41I agree to this point. You better take that bait of quarantine. But maybe,
09:46because he's a dangerous player like the other players of English cricket.
09:51He's a fantastic batsman.
09:53So, cool. And again, just briefly, we're just looking ahead. Again, it could possibly be
10:01another mismatch because we've got struggling Punjab up against defending champions Mumbai.
10:06That's on the Chennai wicket. How do we see that one going, guys? Just quickly around the table.
10:14Well, Mumbai also has not looked that 100% compared to Punjab. But you know,
10:20that doesn't give Punjab an edge over Mumbai. Punjab has lost three games quite badly when
10:26they played in Mumbai. And they have come into the slow, sluggish tracks in Chennai. And the
10:31first match they played against Sunrisers, they were found wanting. So, I don't see any reason
10:37why they would not struggle. Because the spinning attack doesn't look good. They have to get Ravi
10:42Vishnoy, even though he's a youngster, just to make sure that they can compete against Mumbai.
10:48And as I said last time, Mumbai is a team, even though they have lost two matches,
10:53you give them a window of an opportunity, they grab the opportunity completely.
10:59Cool. And TB?
11:02Yeah, I think it's difficult to look beyond Mumbai, really. And I'm also quite disappointed
11:09with the way year after year, at least these two teams, I mean, Punjab and Rajasthan for one.
11:16This year, Rajasthan had actually pinned a lot of hopes on Kumar Sangakara. And
11:22their management had told me that he's the guy who's accountable. Obviously, he's not going to
11:27go in and bat. He can't do. Same thing with Anil Kumli. He was one of the,
11:35is so respected as a thinker of the game. So, I'd just like to ask Anil very quickly that,
11:42you know, there is this knee-jerk reaction. I mean, one day, you play a genuine leg spinner,
11:48next day, you play two part-time spinners. So, how far do you actually see them going, Punjab?
11:54And it's very quickly, if you can just take us through that.
11:56I'm glad you asked me this question, Gautam. First of all, you hit the nail about Kumar
12:01Sangakara that he would be responsible. Then you mentioned about Anil Kumli. Now, you see,
12:05both are legends in their own rights. But as you mentioned, they are not the ones who are
12:09going to play. But they can probably give the right direction to these teams like Punjab or
12:14the Rajasthan Royals. Like you mentioned, they keep changing the squad. The panic button is
12:18pressed. And year after year, like Punjab has never won an IPL title,
12:23batting, reaching once the final, whereas RR just won the title once. So, after that,
12:28they haven't looked the same post. So, they are not trying to, you know, make a team which will
12:34go the distance. You have to give confidence. Now, the reason I'm taking a little long,
12:38Gautam, on this part is like, if you look at teams like Mumbai.
12:41It's worth talking. Yeah. I mean, we know who the good teams are. But here what's going wrong,
12:45we, you know, if you can throw some light.
12:48I'm hitting the nail here is that when you are taking players, or when you are hiring
12:54players for your franchise, you need to give them the security and the belief that you are
13:00here to stay with us. You can't keep chopping and changing players. A franchise is built over a
13:06period of time. Like Mumbai Indians, let's take the example of Mumbai Indians.
13:09They won their first title in 2013, whereas the IPL started in 2008. So, it took them time.
13:15Okay. CSK also, they won their title in the third year. So, they've made sure that they've
13:21packed their players. And if you watch these two franchises compared to the rest of the franchise,
13:25they keep chopping and changing. Bearing KKR, probably they have stuck around with the Russells
13:30and the Marines. But the success of these two franchises is because they pack their players,
13:36they give them the security, they give them the belief, and a franchise is built.
13:40You can't win an IPL title, which is so strongly contested by changing and chopping.
13:49In a nutshell, and Sahil, we just talked about there, and obviously teams that have never won
13:56it. Obviously, RCD have never won it. We might be seeing that changing. That'll be one statistic
14:00that might change this year. That'll be a fascinating one to keep an eye on.
14:04Sahil, if you get any quick thoughts on who do you think will win tomorrow?
14:09I think, look, Mumbai, this season they've not started well. So, do I want to say Mumbai will
14:16win? No, I don't want to say. But Punjab's team, they're not great, man. They don't have a great
14:22squad. Last match, I saw the way they were playing. Not even one player stepped up for them.
14:27Chris Gayle is not performing. Rahul is not performing. I have to say Mumbai. Look at
14:31Mumbai's bowling lineup. They're just unplayable. Cool. Well, guys, I think we've been around all
14:39the doors there. That was a good, solid chat. So, once again, I would just remind everybody
14:46that's watching to log on to our Facebook, predict your winner for each and every day's
14:50competitions and you get the chance to win these tops and a three-month subscription.
14:54And then also, once again, just thanks to our guests. That's Anis, Sahil and Gautam.
15:00And we'll see you all again tomorrow. Cheers, guys.
15:02Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Gautam. Thank you, Sahil. Lovely to chat with you guys.
Comments