The opening match of the IPL season 8 is done and dusted and the Kolkata Knight Riders have come out victorious. The match was a perfect start to the much hyped tournament. Here we look at the 5 major talking points from the match.
1. The Pitch: The first major talking point of the game was the pitch. The Eden Gardens pitch traditionally favours the spinners and the expectations this time around was pretty much the same. But to everyone’s surprise the strip had some pace and bounce and the ball came on to the bat nicely. Just back from Australia, the batsmen made merry and only 3 wickets fell for both the teams.
2. Rohit Sharma’s knock: Rohit Sharma’s knock of 98 proved yet again why the Eden Gardens is his favourite ground. He walked in when the Mumbai Indians were in a spot of bother, but then he came into his own and displayed his wide array of shots. Sharma strung a partnership with Corey Anderson to rescue the Mumbai Indians and guide them to a competitive score of 168.
3. Gautam Gambhir’s broken bat: If there is someone who could be in trouble at the end of the game is Gautam Gambhir’s bat manufacturer. Gambhir came dancing down the wicket to a good length ball and it hit the bat exactly at the centre and the willow cracked into two pieces. Needless to say the Kolkata Kinght Riders skipper was shocked the next instant and it also invited some online banter from his ex-India team mate Yuvraj Singh.
4. Gautam Gambhir’s drop catch: The score read just 5 after 2 overs for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Gambhir then edged Vinay Kumar and he was dropped behind the stumps, a despairing dive doing no good and the wicketkeeper probably dropped the match with that catch. The KKR skipper eventually went on to score a match winning 57 runs.
5. Surya Kumar Yadav’s knock: The IPL is meant to bring out fresh new Indian talent and Kolkata’s Surya Kumar Yadav is a shining example of just that. He put the second ball he faced into the stands and also hit 5 sixes in total. His 46 runs of 20 balls was probably the turning point of the match.
The defending champions have surely made a point.
