Shane Warne and Watson sledged me sensing my nervousness, recalls Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan
Vidyut Sivaramkrishnan, a swashbuckling opener who represented CSK in IPL 2008, recalled how the duo of Warne and Watson instantly sensed his vulnerability and started sledging him in the IPL final in 2008. Vidyut represented CSK in 9 matches, scoring 145 runs at a strike rate of 133.
There are few better âfeel goodâ stories than a local boy excelling for his state franchise in the IPL and back in 2008, one such tale was the story of Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan. An aggressive left-handed opener who was strong through the off-side, Vidyut played 9 matches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the inaugural edition of the IPL and became a mainstay in the team that also had the likes of Mike Hussey, Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina.Â
Haydenâs departure meant that the southpaw retained his place in the team in the knockouts, but the left-hander threw his wicket away in the semi-final playing a rash shot off Irfan Pathan. Speaking to Cricbuzz 12 years on, Vidyut recalled how he had a sleepless night before the final thinking about the shot he played in the semis and revealed how the RR Aussie duo of Shane Warne and Shane Watson started sledging him sensing his vulnerability and nervousness.Â
âIt's not that I was consciously thinking about the previous game, but it was subconsciously running in my mind. The good thing about the Australians is that they pick your body language well. The moment Shane Warne and Shane Watson got to know that I was not a hundred percent in the game, they came and pounced at me with a few four-letter words,â Vidyut told Cricbuzz.
âSince I had taken a few balls to get off the mark, Warne came up and asked me, "Have you come to take the shine off the new ball?" He made sure I heard it when the umpires weren't there. It didn't add pressure on me. But it made me realise that I was still thinking about yesterday.â
Eventually, CSK suffered a heart-breaking last over defeat at the hands of the Royals in the final, but the left-handed opener revealed how the entire franchise was encouraged ahead of the final by the owner N Srinivasan. Vidyut, who did not play for CSK after the inaugural season in 2008, stated that the âfamilyâ vibe within the dressing room served integral to the teamâs success.
âAt the team meeting (before the final), our owner came and told us that he was proud of our performance and will do support us irrespective of the result in the final, and also promised to double our prize money. It was wonderful on N Srinivasan's part to let us know that we had his backing.Â
âThat made a huge difference. Rahul Dravid has made a beautiful point recently on Cricbuzz where he said why CSK have understood the dynamics of IPL so well, of keeping the team together, and succeeded. That's been the case since the first season.â