@I0$
@B0$
If cricket runs in your blood and you age in Sanju Samson sixes, you wouldn't have aged at all in this week gone by. (Someone's really jinxed him bad.)
And it's not just Rajasthan Royals who are feeling the pinch of Samson's sudden dip in form; it's Sharjah too, which now seems to have lost its appetite for high-scoring matches. It's like if Sanju can't hit them, nobody else can. So instead of the glamour of six-hitting, the match promotions will now have to focus on the age-old trope of Steve Smith leading a bunch of Englishmen. (Cliched but let's be honest, it'll still get you and me. If Steve Smith's throw accidentally hitting Jofra Archer isn't "revenge", then what is it really?)
@B1$
Match promotions weren't an issue when Ravichandran Ashwin -- he of "mankading" Jos Buttler fame -- turned up against Rajasthan Royals. Only four days ago, the offspinner had let off Aaron Finch with a warning but he didn't need any of that against Buttler; he got him "legally," if you will. Ricky Ponting was happy. When Ashwin's bowling and people want to see Buttler at the non-striker's end, what's there to not like?
Ashwin went on to win the Player of the Match award against Rajasthan Royals, earning rare praise from Harbhajan Singh for bowling so well on a flat wicket. (And doesn't he want Ashwin bowling on some of them in Test cricket too.)
@B2$
It was a very unusual week for Royal Challengers Bangalore... in that they found themselves at the top of the table for two matches in a row. It must have been a very unsettling feeling because they have't known this half of the table in a long, long time -- let alone the No. 1 spot. How did Navdeep Saini react, you ask? With a "F*** it, Bowl Fast" inscription on his shoes. He's bowling quick and fast, and his shoes too speak for him now.
As opposed to RCB, Rahul Tripathi at the top of the order for Kolkata Knight Riders looked much more at home. His best shot, though, was of him meeting Shahrukh Khan, who stood atop a balcony and waved at him from a (social) distance. Maybe you can shake hands in 2021, Tripathi, when the world's a little bit saner.
@B3$
MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings continued to make a meal of run-chases, except that one time they came up against Kings XI Punjab. And won. And realized that you can be younger but still much worse off.
It was truly a terrible week for KXIP. They went 220 balls without picking a wicket. Chris Jordan recorded comeback figures of 0-42 on his birthday. And the team won nothing (although, looking at it optimistically, that "short run" isn't going to be much of an issue at the end of the season, phew).
@B4$
Kane Williamson turning his arm over. Ben Stokes's arrival and tweets during quarantine. And cricketers breaking their beard. (There's nothing 2020 about it and isn't that a good thing.)
@B5$
Chris Gayle and Ajinkya Rahane's time on the bench. Rohit Sharma's playing XIs (Tell me, would you really want to be Nathan Coulter-Nile?). KL Rahul's views on strike-rates. Overrated much?
