Overreaction Monday ft Glenn âlimited opportunityâ Maxwell, Dinesh âinconsistentâ Karthik and Sanjay Manjrekar on T20
The cash-rich league has been at its thrilling best providing full entertainment to the viewers, who are witnessing close games, which are a trademark of IPL. But intense matches mean that lots of people have opinions on players and matches - this is where we come in with Overreaction Monday.
Glenn âlimited opportunityâ MaxwellÂ
After a dismal performance in the first part of the tournament, scoring just 58 runs in 7 matches, Maxwell stated that he got limited opportunities to bat and his role has not been clear with KXIP.Â
SC Take: For a man who has just scored just 58 runs in 9 matches, Maxwell surely seems to have too much confidence in his batting abilities that have failed him almost all the time in this edition of IPL 2020. Look at the tenacity of the Australian to blame the team management in IPL constantly changing his role in each match - What else are they supposed to do after buying a highly-inflated player? In the expectation of a âMaxwell showâ, all that the team owners get is a huge wage bill and bottom spot on the points table. Maxwell has repeatedly failed in every role he has been given.Â
But wait, he did take 1 wicket this season- maybe thatâs where the confidence stems from. He has played the most stupid shots to get out and the last match was the perfect example of the kind of form he is in. Coming out to bat at number 3, he did have lots of balls to win the game for KXIP, but he rather chose to play a cross-batted rash shot to get out on the first delivery itself. He left KXIP high and dry when they needed him the most, but surely even they would have gotten used to single digits against the name Maxwell. Hopefully, no one wastes huge bucks on a âflop showâ next season.Â
Sanjay Manjrekar feels Super Over âdrags onâ T20 cricketÂ
After the twin Super Over in the clash between KXIP and MI, Sanjay Manjrekar reckoned that the match should be declared as a draw when the first Super Over ends up in a tie. He insisted that Super Over âdrags onâ T20 cricket.Â
SC Take: Okay, so we have a new definition of the T20 cricket given by Mr. Manjrekar, who seem to think that results are not important in every league match and hence, a draw should be awarded to both the teams and points should be shared after the teams tie the match in the first Super Over. Why have even one Super Over? Maybe Manjrekar doesnât like the twin Super Over because he wants to get done with the game early. Fair point. But to say that Super Over âdrags onâ the game is being ignorant of the fact that Super Overs made the match even more interesting and intense, which is what a good cricket match is all about. Maybe Manjrekar should stop thinking about himself all the time and see from the perspective of a team as well.Â
A team might just miss out on the top 4 place due to one point or on the run-rate, which has been a constant trend in IPL, where teams miss out on the knockouts due to that one point which they might have scored in the Super Over. According to Manjrekarâs definition, âT20 cricket cannot be about a game that just drags onâ. Drags on, really? T20 cricket is all about entertainment, drama, and intense matches and all this has been adequately provided by IPL if not more. The very foundation of IPL has been its competitiveness, which will stale if there is no Super Over.Â
Dinesh âinconsistentâ Karthik steps down from KKR captaincy
Not able to perform with the bat, scoring just 1 fifty in 7 games, Dinesh Karthik stepped down from the captaincy of KKR to hand over the reins to Eoin Morgan. In Morganâs rein, Kolkata have won one and lost one so far.Â
SC Take: KKR management has been on a roll for a few years now. First, they appointed Dinesh Karthik as their captain when everyone was against the move, and then, now when he needed their backing, they chucked him off the captaincy post to appoint England skipper Eoin Morgan, who might or might not be available for next seasonâs matches. How can changing captain mid-season be helpful to the franchise? In fact, Karthikâs performance as a captain was not too bad as Kolkata won 4 games under his leadership this season. Though it can be said that few of his decisions were questionable, they all stem from the same culture that KKR imbibes - the same culture through which they got Sunil Narine, who won them their 2 titles.Â
From the strategic point of view as well this decision makes no sense as, now, even if Morgan doesnât perform according to standards the team will have to carry him throughout the tournament. Karthik had a good understanding of the Indians players that Morgan will take time to get used to and by the time the transition process is over, KKR would have lost all hopes of the trophy. All in all, it looks like a short term measure to change the captaincy, which might or might not work in their favour, but from the outside, it certainly gives a feeling that things are not right at the Kolkata based franchise.Â
Indian domestic cricket starting from January 1st
After BCCIâs apex council meeting, Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI President, on Saturday said that domestic cricket season in India will tentatively begin on January 1, 2021.
SC Take: Now that international cricket has started along with various T20 leagues around the world, the Indian domestic fraternity has been divided regarding the start of the cricket with some supporting the move and some in against the move. While the argument that there is a model available now for everyone to follow in these pandemic times, it still hasnât been clear which model makes sense and which one is even viable because domestic cricket wonât have the luxury of heaps of money.Â
And given the scale of operations that involves 38 state teams in the whole tournament, it is highly unlikely that the tournament can be conducted without cutting corners in terms of safety. Rightly so, even the state associations were unhappy with BCCIâs decision as they were not consulted on the same. It feels like BCCI is the dictator and everyone in its kingdom has to follow whatever they are told, which is not new but to put the lives of players at stake is something that is new.Â