Axar Patel had the best economy rate (6.13) among the bowlers who played five or more matches in the last IPL (Source: BCCI)
Last year, the Punjab spinners had played a major role in taking the side to the final of the IPL, but this time it looks that it is not going their way. Axar Patel talks to the Indian Express and explains where it is all going wrong for KXIP. Excerpts
Q. Last season was a successful one for you as you had played a major role in taking Kings XI to the final. But this time it seems not to be going your way. What could have been the reason? Is it due to the changes that you have brought to your bowling?
I won’t agree that my bowling has changed. When I was playing last year, no one knew me and my role was normal and easy. But now people know me and I am playing the role of a leader. Last year, I was bowling in the middle overs and now I have to bowl as and when the team needs me, which is to say that bowling in death overs and also in the first six. And when I am bowling in the death overs I am aware that my economy will go up, but yes I am taking wickets also. But once the team’s morale is down every one starts to think that there has been a change in my style.
Q. Last year you and Karanveer Singh were bowling in tandem. But this time with Karanveer not so effective, do you think you are getting enough support from the other end? Is it also affecting your bowling?
Yes I feel that could be one reason because we are not able to bowl in tandem, meaning that if I bowl a good over then the other bowler is not able to sustain the same discipline. Like in the first six overs, Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh are bowling well and we are not able to follow it up as spinners. So it could be a major reason you noticing a change in my bowling.
Q. These days you are bowling a lot quicker in the air with a sidearm action and going far too wide in the crease. For someone known to bowl with a high-arm action and mixing it up, making it difficult for batsmen, is this pressure that has forced you to bring about this change?
Obviously the wickets are very flat and that is one thing that is consistently on the mind. I usually beat a batsman with my quicker delivery and on the contrary I don’t think to bowl slow to trouble him because if I try to do what actually is not my style, I will be in trouble and the team will suffer as well. So I just rely on my strength and if my strength is not slow bowling then there are more chances of leaking runs.
Q. You have bowled in ODIs and your bowling speed kept varying between 80-90 kmph. But now you are trying to bowl a lot quicker. Don’t you think you are giving the batsmen an advantage to hit you because he can now use the pace. Don’t you think you should rather stick to orthodox spin?
Yes I am trying to mix it up so that a batsman stays in two minds. But when you are bowling in the death overs, you can get hit. So, keeping that in mind, I keep varying my bowling.
Q. How do you prepare mentally? Now that you are leading the spin department, do you think it is putting you under more pressure?
There is pressure now that I am the main bowler and it is difficult not to think of it any differently. But I just prepare myself to bowl to my strength and at the end a good ball is a good ball for any batsman.
Q. Last year you also bowled with a new ball. What do you think is better, bowling in the death overs or bowling with a new ball?
When I bowl tight there is pressure on the opponent team. But now my role has changed. I have to bowl when the coach and captain demand my services.
Q. Which is your stock ball, left-arm spin or armer?
I consider armer to be my stock ball.
Q. Are you seeking help of any former India left-arm spinner to improve your bowling?
No, I haven’t spoken to anyone as yet. But when I was in the Indian team, Ravi Shastri, who was a left-arm spinner himself, had asked me to ignore the advice of those who tell me to bowl slow or fast. He told me to keep doing what I was doing. As a left-arm spinner, the catch is how you kill a batsman mentally by bowling a slower one followed by a quicker one and sticking to a plan.
Q. But are you trying to follow up the way you generally bowl in the IPL as well? Are you bowling with a sidearm action so as to bring the ball into the batsman?
Yes in the middle overs. Because in death overs I try to bowl a lot fuller to the batsman and I think that is why I can’t vary my bowling much. I am also bowling a lot sidearm because if you have to dart it in you have to undercut it slightly, but it is only when I am bowling in T20. When I bowl in the nets, I go back to my orthodox bowling because if I have to play Test cricket I will have to bowl quality spin.
Q. On your batting?
I focus a lot on my batting when I go to the nets. T20 is such a format where you don’t get much time to get your eye in. So you get 5-6 balls and you can’t show your talent much. But whenever I get to bat I try to prove myself and my aim is to improve my batting as well.
Q. How big a platform is KXIP for you?
It is definitely a big platform for me as I have played just one year. I never got a chance being in Mumbai Indians, but Punjab has given me everything.
MI (bt SRH)
What went right: While Lasith Malinga’s return to wicket-taking form has been the main reason behind the smiles returning to the Mumbai Indians dug-out, Mitchell McClenaghan played an equally crucial role in his team’s impressive win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, where they defended a below-par total of 157, dismissing Shikhar Dhawan and Ravi Bopara. Mumbai’s bowling is bolstered by the inclusion of veteran Ben Hilfenhaus.
What went wrong: Once Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard were dismissed there was no firepower left in the Mumbai lower-order to power them forward. Ambati Rayudu continued to be the biggest flop of the season for the former champions.
RR (No result vs RCB)
What’s going wrong: Shane Watson’s captaincy. Steve Smith had a 4-0 win-loss record before his compatriot took over from him. Since, Rajasthan Royals have won one match, lost two and had two matches rained off. Watson has looked panicky at the helm, and as a result even his most dependable bowlers have suffered, like Pravin Tambe did against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
What went right: Tim Southee finally proved that he can be a menace with his swing even in these conditions. He first got rid of Chris Gayle in the first over with a full delivery, before getting rid of Virat Kohli with a delivery that would have made James Anderson proud—an out-swinger that pitched on fourth stump, and had the RCB captain caught behind off the outside-edge.
Conclusion
Mumbai have shown in past seasons that they can easily get on to a winning spree after a slow start to their campaign. But the Royals will be keen to avenge their infamous defeat to the home team last year, which knocked them out of playoff contention. Karun Nair certainly will be looking forward to bat again at the Wankhede, considering he scored a triple-ton—in the Ranji Trophy final—the last time he took guard here.
At home, Delhi will try to avoid another batting freeze
DD (lost to RCB)
What went wrong: Delhi didn’t reach three-figures. Only three of their batsmen got into double-figures. They lost all 10 wickets with eight balls still remaining in their innings. Their big-money buys, Yuvraj Singh—who was once again found wanting against pace and bounce, this time from Varun Aaron—and Angelo Mathews, lasted all of six balls and totalled two runs. Delhi showed just why they have been perennial wooden-spooners in the IPL with their bowlers failing to take a single wicket and stop RCB from chasing down their target with almost 10 overs to spare.
What went right: Nothing. Unless you want to be slightly compassionate and say Kedar Jadhav’s valiant 29-ball 33 to avoid an even more shambolic humiliation.
KXIP (lost to SRH)
What went wrong: Manan Vohra came in for Virender Sehwag and failed to provide Punjab with the kind of ferocious impetus that they brought into vogue last season. Murali Vijay once again failed to make the most of a start, getting run-out for 12.
What went right: Axar Patel and Wriddhiman Saha, two stars of the IPL 7 campaign, finally came to the party, even if only in vain. Patel was at his miserly best for a change, giving away only 25 runs in his four overs, and he also got rid of David Warner. Saha was the lone shining light in the batting department, keeping the game alive with a 33-ball 42.
Conclusion
On the basis of how DD played against RCB, it’s tough to not imagine them occupying bottom-place. That privilege though rests with KXIP, who have failed to deliver an encore after a stunning run last year. And both teams know a loss here could well bring a premature end to their playoff ambitions.
Floyd Mayweather Sr. (from left), Floyd Mayweather Jr. with Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach at the press conference in Las Vegas. (Source: AP)
Floyd Mayweather insisted that his blockbuster fight against Manny Pacquiao is about boxing and business, not angels and demons, as the rivals went eyeball-to-eyeball at their final pre-fight press conference.
Pacquiao goes into Saturday’s bout that has the boxing world buzzing trailing a mantle of humanitarian deeds.
Read: The Richest. The Biggest. The Greatest?
The two-term congressman tipped as a future Philippines president has left womanizing and gambling ways behind him and while he stands to make some $100 million for his night’s work on Saturday, the devout Christian says he hopes the intense focus on the fight will be a stage for the glorification of God. “I want to inspire,” Pacquiao said.
But Mayweather won’t be playing the devil, despite a history that includes two months in jail in 2012 for an assault on an ex-girlfriend in front of two of their children. “I am a realist,” said Mayweather, the 38-year-old American who has parlayed a perfect 47-0 ring record into a reign as the highest paid sportsman on the planet. “This fight is not good versus evil. It is one fighter who is at the top and another.”
It was Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach who first billed the fight as good against evil, citing Mayweather’s record of domestic violence. “For the first time in my life with Manny Pacquiao, this is the first fighter he hasn’t liked. I can tell,” Roach said earlier this month.
But Mayweather, who said this week he expects a payday of $200 million for this fight alone, says none of that will matter when he steps in the ring.
“I believe in my skills. I believe I will be victorious,” said Mayweather, who puts his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association welterweight belts on the line against Pacquiao, the World Boxing Organization champ who boasts a record of 57-5-2.
For more than five years, contractual hurdles and animosity between the camps kept the top pound-for-pound fighters of their generation from meeting in the ring.
With the breathless anticipation has come a distinct backlash. The bout is hype. The boxers are past their prime.
Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, whose Top Rank Promotions is partnering with Mayweather Promotions to produce the event just as television rivals HBO and Showtime have come together in a rare partnership, said the experience had been “hellish”. However, the long-awaited bout has captured the imaginations of fight fans and casual observers around the world.
“I don’t take nothing away from Pacquiao, he is going to be an intriguing match-up on Saturday,” Mayweather said. “He didn’t get to where he got by not beating tough opponents.”
It’s that kind of measured respect that has Roach doubting that Mayweather’s heart is in the fight. “I wonder if he’s going to show up,” Roach said shortly before the fighters took the stage at the MGM Grand’s 1,950-seat Ka Theater – usually the home of Cirque du Soleil.
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson strolled in – only one of the boxing legends, A-list celebrities and casino high-rollers drawn to the event.
“I think he was forced into this fight,” Roach said. “I don’t think he wants to fight this fight. He didn’t get to pick his opponent.”
But the 38-year-old Mayweather said he no longer needs to indulge in trash talk. “Me speaking loud and having personality, I did that in the past,” he said. “I’m a lot older and wiser, this fight sells itself. I don’t have to do it,” Mayweather said.
Arum proud of his blockbuster
Boxing promoter Bob Arum, who is showing no signs of slowing down at age 83, says he will continue to make blockbuster fights until they “put me in a box.”
“My problem is when you get to be an age that I am you are afraid to stop because you wonder how long you are going to last,” said Arum. “If you just put your head down and keep going you figure to last longer than if you just quit. I will do it until they put me in a box or I can’t do it anymore.”
The numbers are staggering even for Arum who has promoted some of the biggest fights in boxing history. “I am not going to project any numbers because any number I say people will say ‘there he goes, bullshitting us again,’” Arum said. “If the numbers turn out to be what we hope for, each fighter will make more money than a complete major league payroll of most baseball teams.”
Arum described this as the most difficult promotion of his 50-year career. He said there is no rematch clause in the contract and he doesn’t want one.
