The coming of age of Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube
A 20 over game might seem like a miniature version devoid of any proper storytelling, something of a fast food joint compared to the fine dining experience of Test cricket, but the number of narratives it manages to deliver in a jam-packed 3-hour session is beyond comparison. Take for example yesterday night’s RCB’s Super over win against the Mumbai Indians. RCB seem to have found a reliable opening pair in Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers keeps middling everything as if his life depends on it, Navdeep Saini’s composure at the death, giving away 12 runs off the penultimate over leaving Udana with 19 to defend, and then coming back to keep the Mumbai Indians down to 7 runs in the Super over.
However, there were two Indian all-rounders who have often attracted the ire of fans and the criticism of experts alike - the two Indian all-rounders lurking in the RCB lower middle order. Shivam Dube has been a part of the RCB setup since 2019 and Washington Sundar a year more. At a time when their presence in the playing eleven were being brought under the scanner, the two all-rounders managed to show just why the criticism coming their way was not justified.
First, it was Shivam Dube. Not every day can one say they have outpaced De Villiers in a partnership. Coming in to bat with 17 balls left, Shivam exhibited exactly what made him famous - a masterclass in raw power-hitting. His 27 off 10 balls meant RCB had breached the 200 mark for the first time this season. Mind you, he was facing up to three experienced international pros in Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, and James Pattinson. His knock was the icing on the perfectly constructed RCB innings.
It often slips our mind that Washington Sundar is a brilliant powerplay overs bowler, having proven his skills at the international level. Against the Mumbai Indians, he gave an account of his abilities. Bowling 3 overs in the powerplay is no joke. Batsmen get accustomed to the action, get better at picking the line and length, making it easier to strike big. However, Sundar’s subtle variations gave nothing away. Quinton de Kock could not for the life of him get Sundar off the square, Ishan Kishan had to look elsewhere for boundaries, and Rohit Sharma realized a bit too late that he had fallen into the trap set exclusively for his favored pull shot. A spinner bowling a four-over spell, three of them in the powerplay, in a game where over 400 runs were scored, and giving away only 12 runs, bowling 13 dot balls out of 24 was an exceptional effort. Those 13 balls played a huge role in not letting the Mumbai Indians run away with the chase.
If a decade on from now, if there was one game which the RCB faithful would remember as the birth of two superstar all-rounders for RCB, this win against Mumbai Indians would spring to mind.
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