IPL talking points: Terrifying Sunrisers & laid back Narine

Whisper it very quietly, but the Sunrisers might even have a half decent side this year.

Even writing that seems a bit of a leap of faith in a team that was rock bottom last year and hasn’t finished higher than eighth since 2020.

The evidence though is growing – after brutalising a Bengaluru bowing attack for 287 (the second highest T20 total ever), they now own the second highest scores in IPL history. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have formed an utterly terrifying opening partnership, Aiden Markram is the glue in the middle and Heinrich Klaasen is probably the best hitter at the death in the world right now.

Their bowlers have had to bowl on some flat pitches but Pat Cummins has done so admirably and made the difference in high scoring matches.

Everyone is understandably getting very excited about them but I’m not going to jump on board the Sunrisers hype train just yet – I’ve been burned before and let’s just see if they can keep performing into May, when it really matters.

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Cult hero Narine

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Sunil Narine has become a cult hero

Meanwhile, let’s all stop for a moment and appreciate the incredible cricketer and T20 cult hero that is Sunil Narine.

I once witnessed his warm up the day before a T20 World Cup match in Sri Lanka and it consisted of eating a banana, bowling two balls and having a kip at the back of the net while Chris Gayle and Andre Russell teed off at the other end.

If he got any more laid back he’d be horizontal. Many thought the decision by KKR to try him at the top of the order a few years ago was an ill fated experiment never to be repeated.

It wasn’t, and not only that, but in the years in between Narine seems to have transformed himself into Brian Lara. His first T20 century came, incredibly, in his 504th match and saw some of the cleanest hitting we have seen all tournament. Merge Lara with Narine’s bowling – which has always been world class – and you have one of the best T20 players to have ever walked the earth.

I’m semi joking about the Lara comparison of course (apologies to Brian, if he is reading!) but it highlights the fact that at 35-years-old Narine is playing some of the best cricket of his life.

He’s been consistently brilliant ever since he burst onto the scene in the IPL in 2012 and yet issues with the legality of his action and problems with the West Indies Cricket Board mean he has played nowhere near as much international cricket as he should have.

Rovman Powell says he is on the case trying to persuade Narine to make an International return for the home T20 World Cup in June. If he does, the Windies will without doubt look like serious contenders to lift the trophy.

Maxwell is one of cricket’s good guys

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Glenn Maxwell is one of cricket’s good guys and has evolved into a great teammate

From one enigma to another. Glenn Maxwell’s IPL though has been the polar opposite to Narine’s.

So much so that after averaging just five in six innings he spoke to the Royal Challengers’ management and suggested his spot be given to someone else as he wasn’t playing well enough.

This hardly ever happens – most batters just try to pull the wool over our eyes by claiming they are ‘hitting them really well in the nets’ and wait until their position becomes untenable before being dropped.

Maxwell deserves a lot of credit for doing what he did. Not only does it give a potentially more in form player a chance but is also the ultimate team player act – sacrifice yourself for the good of the side.

It also shows immense self confidence as Maxwell knows his value to the team and isn’t worried about his long-term future. He was known as the ‘Big Show’ early in his career but nothing could actually be further from reality – Maxwell is one of cricket’s good guys and has evolved into a great teammate.

Watching Jake Fraser-McGurk’s first forays into the IPL for Delhi and in particular, listening to the sound the ball makes pinging off the middle of his bat, it seems like he could be Australia’s next big T20 star.

At the age of 22 he has already smashed the record for the fastest List A century and I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes the IPL by storm in the next couple of seasons.

A batter’s tournament

It’s been a batter’s tournament so far but Matheesha Pathirana has shown he can be a match winner for the Super Kings with the ball.

His action is about as close to Lasith Malinga as you can get and he’s probably quicker than Lasith ever was, with a similarly devastating yorker.

With ridiculously high scores seemingly being made every other match, it’s comforting to see unconventional bowlers still occasionally able to bamboozle batters when the pressure is on.

Call me old fashioned, but it’s not all about the ball disappearing out of the park!

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