IPL 2022: Beware of The Dismissed And Devalued

IPL 2022: There was also a lot of talk about which players were past their prime, overrated, or just simply criticised for no reason at all.

Delhi: Many things have changed in the Indian Premier League, not least the number of cricketers who have shifted allegiances. A lot of talk has been going on about which side will miss which player (a bit ironic, since the player was dropped by the franchise to start with). There was also a lot of talk about which players were past their prime, overrated, or just simply criticised for no reason at all.

We will take a look at a few of these, and see how they fared. The point we are making is not if the sides won, but how these players, many of whom have faced derision and been scoffed at for being too old or just not too good, fared in IPL 2022 so far.

MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings): Mahendra Singh Dhoni, no longer captain of Chennai Super Kings and just an “ordinary” member of the side now, came in to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders with the side in trouble and even as he got going, social media was abuzz about whether he still had it. He answered in the only way he knows – 50 not out off 38 deliveries with seven boundaries and one six (strike rate of 131.58).

Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings): Another member of CSK’s ‘Dad’s Army’ there were questions galore when Bravo was retained ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. Wasn’t it time to look ahead, at greener pastures? Surely Bravo was past his prime, now a liability.

He went on to claim the wickets of Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Sam Billings, to return figures of 3/20 off four overs, an economy of five.

Kuldeep Yadav (Delhi Capitals): The left-arm chinaman bowler has had possibly one of the roughest deals in Indian cricket in the recent past. The bowler has fought the odds, been left out of sides with no good reason after being selected and not being played. No wonder his wrists were stiffening whenever Yadav went in to bowl.

Not so in IPL 2022 as yet. Bowling against the mighty Mumbai Indians, the wrist spinner claims the wickets of Rohit Sharma, ironically the man who has imparted faith in him again at international level, Anmolpreet Singh and the huge one of Kieron Pollard (3/15, economy 4.5).

Mohammad Shami (Gujarat Titans): Not so long ago, Mohammad Shami was at the receiving end of a lot of flak on social media after India lost to Pakistan by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup last year. The

intensity was so much that then captain Virat Kohli had to come up in Shami’s defence.

The Lucknow Super Giants top-order had no defence whatsoever against Shami, who has been India’s pace spearhead for long. He knocked out KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey to return figures of 3/25 off four overs (economy 6.25).

More to come: Can’t wait to see David Warner and Rashid Khan go up against SunRisers Hyderabad. The Australian, specially, will have a few things to say, we are sure.