Despite boasting of the most destructive batting line-up on paper in the ongoing 16th season of the Indian Premier League, the fact that the Mumbai Indians top-6 batters could hit mere four Sixes while chasing a stiff target of 208 runs on a beautiful batting deck, was a disappointing outcome to say the least.
Advertisement
In what was a crunching 55-run defeat suffered at the hands of the Gujarat Titans, the five-time IPL champions were not off to an ideal start by any means. While Rohit Sharma (2 off 8) was sent back during the second Over itself, it was a painful stay at the crease for Ishan Kishan (13 off 21) as MI could only post 29 runs in the Powerplay – the third lowest score in this phase this season so far.
The innings never got back on track as the batters continued to get entangled in the spin web woven by the Afghan duo of Rashid Khan (4-0-27-2) and Noor Ahmed (4-0-37-3), to dry out the runs during the middle Overs.
Arjun Tendulkar Six Video
Amidst all of it, a batting collapse had meant that Arjun Tendulkar had gotten an opportunity to bat for the first time in the IPL, and fans expected the son of the legendary batter to showcase some of his batting skills he possibly would have acquired from his father.
The 23-year-old had timed the first ball beautifully while playing a back foot punch towards Point. While there was the scope for a brace, Nehal Wadhera chose to only run a single in a bid to have the strike back.
While he could not have the ball in his radar for the big hit the following few deliveries, he got into good position to thwack Mohit Sharma’s short delivery for a huge Six towards the deep square leg fence during the last Over.
He ultimately got caught Out at the long-on fence on the fourth delivery of the Over, to end his maiden IPL innings with the bat at 13 (9).
