Revenge of the League

Hardik Pandya and Ruturaj Gaikwad (PC-BCCI)

The official broadcaster announced the revenge week of the Indian Premier League 2026 and what a week it has been! Just when we thought that things were settling at a new normal, the proverbial “sting in the tail” strikes back and surprises everyone. It is not the teams taking revenge; the league itself is out to take revenge on those trying to outguess how it will turn out!

In a sea of 200 plus scores, the veritable super over, the magical Quidditch in a game of lesser mortals, took over with Kolkata Knight Riders registering a win in a close contest with Lucknow Super Giants. The super over itself was a bit of a damp squib but the images of the wily old fox Sunil Narine bowling out a hapless looking Nicholas Pooran and restricting LSG to just two runs will remain etched in our minds. For KKR, the day belonged to Rinku Singh, who hit the winning four and that after a magnificent 83 off 51 balls to rescue a beleaguered KKR outing.

Just when we thought we had seen it all, Delhi Capitals stopped and stuttered their way to a season low of 75 in their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at their home ground. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazelwood put up a masterclass in accurate pace bowling and RCB got over the line comfortably.

At New Chandigarh, things went back to our new normal with Punjab Kings scoring 222 for four and we were all breathing easy. And that is when South African Donovan Ferreira decided it was time to wake up and hit that brilliant 52 off 26 balls to take Rajasthan Royals to victory and Punjab to their first loss in the league.

We moved to Mumbai and the Mumbai Indians rattled up 243 for 5, their highest, and said “Apna time aayega” in the pavilion. That 123 off 55 balls by Ryan Rickleton will go down as one of the best in this edition of the IPL. And that is when Sunrisers Hyderabad decimated them with an explosive batting display. Openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head did what they have been doing, but the middle order came good with Heinrich Klassen showing us what brutal batting is all about. Nitish Reddy also made his mark.

The table seemed to be settling down with PBKS and RCB at the top, followed by SRH and Rajasthan Royals and the skirmish seemed reserved for the middle spaces. In the last couple of days, that is also getting challenged with Gujarat Titans vanquishing RCB and Delhi Capitals getting the better of RR.

And finally last evening as I clasped on to my bowl of minced meat soup and sat back to watch the boy wonder take on Mitch Starc; the fifty in 17 balls didn’t happen. Can you beat that?? DC is now within sniffing distance of the final playoffs. More importantly, teams and their strengths that we thought were simply unassailable now look a tad exposed.

Kyle Jamieson looked pumped and animated as he got Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s wicket but it was less a reflection on the bowlers as much as the impact the 15-year old has made on the international bowling fraternity. In an odd ball manner though, I heaved a sigh of relief when he got out for a sub-par score last evening. It makes things real in some manner and perhaps will make Sooryavanshi mentally tougher. For now, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost…. Take it away IPL 2026!

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