It’s never fun to get a taste of your own medicine. That’s what I realised in the match against Kings XI Punjab when David Miller capped off an amazing knock by dispatching me for a six to win the game for his team.
In a way, I could empathise with a lot of bowlers as I was left saying to myself ‘so that’s what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a hammering’.
Tough and bitter as it was for me and my teammates to swallow that defeat, it was just a very special innings from a player in very good form.
It was almost like looking in a mirror to be honest, the way Miller kept taking his chances and the manner in which he was striking the ball. There was no way you could contain an innings like that. A painful lesson, but hey that’s cricket!
I’m well placed to know the dangers left-handers pose and after Miller, we were close to experiencing some more agony against the Delhi Daredevils the other night thanks to a couple of more southpaws in Irfan Pathan and Morne Morkel.
Thankfully, we were able to pull through this time round and come away with a crucial win which keeps us in the top four. Another tough game awaits us against Kolkata Knight Riders and considering our current trouble with left-handers, we will need to tackle Gautam Gambhir and Eoin Morgan with great caution.
With the ball, Sunil Narine is clearly our biggest threat and it will be important to adopt the same approach against him to the one we used in Bangalore.
Much has been made of sharing so called ‘secrets’ about your national team colleagues with your franchise team, especially with the rise of the IPL and other T20 leagues.
All I’ll say is, be it Narine or any other player, in this day and age with the use of video analysis and other technology as well as with the volume of cricket played, there are hardly any secrets.
Of course, seeing as we are all competitive cricketers trying to win, I don’t see any issues with sharing any information about a familiar player if it can give your team a slender advantage. But you still need to go out and execute your strategy or plan.
Away from cricket, as an ardent Manchester United fan, it was sad to hear of Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to retire.
His achievements in the game are nothing short of phenomenal and those are indeed big boots to fill. But life goes on and considering that United are a top club I see no reason why they can’t continue to be successful under David Moyes. — Professional Management Group
