IPL 2019- Week 01- Top Ten talking points

#2 Dre Russ- The MVP; Delhi's flair and the epic Super-Over

during Epic Super Over

49 [19], 48 [17] and 62 off 28 balls; not to forget the five wickets that he took. It is fair to say that Andre Russell is playing at a different level compared to others in the T20 format.

The sheer brutality and the authoritativeness that Russell has displayed in his strokeplay, it has left everyone barring the bowlers in a sense of awe, but it is the consistency and the temperament which has stood out. All of his innings, particularly the one against SRH where KKR required 49 off 17 balls and against Delhi where he came in to bat at 5-60, stand out.

Russell has emerged to be the backbone of the KKR team but different individuals have contributed at different occasions. Nitish Rana [67] and Robin Uthappa [63] chipped-in against KXIP while DK played a captain's knock against DC alongside Russell and the side- barring the indifferent form of Narine and Lynn, would be buoyed with the fact that how they managed to come back from the dead against DC despite playing the swashbuckling innings of Prithwi Shaw [99] and the absence of Sunil Narine.

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At the same time, the Capitals' would be gutted as to how they bottled their chance of claiming an outright win. Twice in the game, they had KKR on the ropes. First, when their bowlers had reduced the Knight Riders' to 5-60, and secondly when Shaw was going great guns with the bat. But, Shaw's dismissal changed the course of the game as Kuldeep Yadav bowled a spectacular last over to take the match to the Super-Over.

KKR lose to DC in the Super Over

Prasidh Krishna was thrust with the responsibility of bowling the Super Over against the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer and vindicated DK's call by conceding just 10 runs beside claiming a wicket of Iyer. But, if Krishna was good, Rabada was godly. Bowling against probably the best T20 all-rounder in the world, Andre Russell, the South African fast bowler missed the yorker off the first ball but nailed the next five to defend 11 and pull a much-needed win for his side.

#1 No light at the end of the tunnel for RCB

Virat Kohli

Kohliii!!! ABD!!!! But, who else? Unfortunately, this question always rares its head every time RCB lose an IPL game. This year was supposed to be different. But, as the points table will tell you it has been the same story this year as well.

Like every year, lack of credible support to Kohli and AB, lack of a quality death bowler and off-course the team selections, as well as the reading of the conditions, has formed a similar narrative around the sides' campaign.

The likes of Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube and Moeen Ali have not been able to provide ideal support to Kohli and de Villiers, as we saw in the game against the Mumbai Indians, where despite AB remaining unbeaten, he could not get his team past the finishing line; vindicating the age-old fact that one or two players cannot win you games consistently.

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