IPL 2018: Virat Kohli’s acting classes, Ishan Kishan’s pep talk and a tale of two overs from the RCB-MI clash

The McScoop is back in business What is it about RCB and playing shots over the wicketkeeper’s head? Right from Tillakaratne Dilshan to AB de Villiers to Sarfaraz Khan, Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a history of batsmen capable of playing the 360-degree game. On Tuesday night, they found yet another one in Brendon McCullum. The former New Zealand skipper had a slow start on a sluggish surface but quickly turned on the heat when Hardik Pandya bowled a full toss to him. McCullum stepped to the off-side a touch, went down and fetched the ball with a lap shot that soared over the ‘keeper’s head and into the stands. [caption id=“attachment_4453297” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mumbai Indians players huddle before the start of the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. SPORTZPICS[/caption] Although not quite the ‘Dilscoop’, the shot made for great viewing. In fact, it isn’t even the first time McCullum has played it. A few years back, he had employed the shot brilliantly against the searing pace of Shaun Tait in an international match. Kohli’s acting classes pay off Just when the RCB skipper Virat Kohli had got into his act on Tuesday night, Jasprit Bumrah seemed certain he had found his outside edge while Kohli tried to dab the ball to third man. The umpire seemed to disagree and the wicketkeeper was also convinced there was no edge. UltraEdge, though, threw up a huge spike as the ball passed Virat Kohli’s bat much to the dismay of the Mumbai Indians fans. To his credit, the array of ads he has done in recent times plausibly stood him in good stead as the RCB skipper didn’t even take a glance back after edging the ball. Batsmen usually instinctively look back once they edge behind, but Kohli’s immediate reaction was to stare down innocently. It seemed to have not only convince the umpire, but also the Mumbai camp as they didn’t bother to review. Pandya’s dream finish and McClenaghan’s nightmare What was starting to appear like a dreadful day for Hardik after McCullum’s insane hitting took a complete U-turn as he dismissed Mandeep Singh, Kohli and Washington Sundar in one over. The back-of-the-length cutters and slower balls worked wonders on a sticky wicket and Pandya suddenly found himself being catapulted from villain to hero. On the other hand, Mitchell McClenaghan, who sent down three superb overs upfront was taken apart in the final over by his Black Caps teammate, Colin de Grandhomme. McClenaghan had gone for a miserly 11 runs in his first three overs but ended up conceding three sixes in his final over that cost 24 runs and possibly the match. Talk about reversing roles! Ishan Kishan doesn’t quite walk the talk In a rather amusing incident, Ishan Kishan was the one chatting up in Mumbai Indians’ team huddle prior to the toss. All of 19 years, he isn’t someone who is expected to give the pep talk in a team huddle. Rohit Sharma later revealed at the toss that he was being given additional responsibility. “He speaks a lot in the dressing room, so for a change we wanted him to come out and talk in the team huddle. He is a great kid. We just wanted to throw some responsibility at him.” However, the pep talk apparently did not quite work on himself for Kishan was undone by a peach from Tim Southee off the first ball he faced in the match. Opening the innings in Evin Lewis’ absence, Kishan was cleaned up by a special delivery from Tim Southee in the first over of the run chase. It turned out to be his third duck of the season and his second one against RCB. However, given how talented he is, Kishan should just focus on forgetting this setback and come back stronger. After all, the fact that the Mumbai Indians think-tank feel he is good enough to take responsibility shows how highly he is rated as an upcoming talent. ‘Call me if you need to catch something’ How much ever you try, you can’t keep Kohli out of the game, can you? If it was a rip-roaring catch the other night against Kolkata Knight Riders, and then there was another one on Tuesday at the same position. This time, though, it wasn’t after RCB had lost hopes of churning out a win. When Hardik hit a Tim Southee slower ball flat to long-on, Kohli charged in from the deep, grabbed the ball with both hands, rolled over and completed a brilliant catch, making it look all too easy on the eye. He celebrated the dismissal with a gesture to call him and going by his recent outfield catching, one can only assume he is taking this up on a contract basis. Promoting himself quite well there, isn’t he?