IPL Pulse: Contrasting starts for Samson and Jadeja

Good morning!

Tuesday blues are very real but fret not, here's today's edition of the Pulse, your 2-minute scan of the IPL universe, to munch on alongside your cornflakes.

Last night in 5 points

1. The Super Kings were humbled by the Royals who coasted to an eight-wicket win with nearly eight overs to spare!

2. Nandre Burger ensured that Sanju Samson's stint with CSK got off to an inauspicious start with his stumps being splattered for 6 (7). Teenagers, DON'T get excited (6-7 6-7 6-7)

3. On a lively red-soil pitch with a bit of moisture, CSK quickly found themselves reduced 38/4 inside the Powerplay and they never really recovered.

4. Once RR's pace battery had dutifully carried out their demolition job, Ravindra Jadeja struck twice in the same over leaving CSK fans with lumps in their throat for more than one reason.

5. 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued his jaw-dropping antics by blitzing a 15-ball fifty - the joint-third quickest in the league. Yashasvi Jaiswal was happy to enjoy the show from the other end with 38* (36).

Oh, that happened

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi happened again. Cheat code? Magic bat? Every time this 15-year-old walks out, it feels like we're watching a fantasy unfold. It could've ended the very first ball, instead he was dropped by Kartik Sharma and there was no looking back.

For Sooryavanshi, it was another day in the office - 52 off 17, laced with five sixes and four fours. For the rest of us, it was another existential crisis, wondering what we were doing at 15.

Pulse Awards

The epic-slideshow award goes to the ball-tracker graphics which wasn't quite feeling itself. No choppy frame rate could save Sarfaraz Khan from being trapped in front though. Soaring RAM prices to blame for low FPS?

The gunslinger award goes to Ravindra Jadeja with a fresh buzzcut and a fresh celebration, firing away into the air upon dismissing his former teammate Shivam Dube.

The missed-the-memo award goes to Guwahati. More than half of the 40,000 seats remained up for grabs.

The thala-for-no-reason award goes to MS Dhoni as CSK took the field for the first time without either thala or chinna-thala (Suresh Raina). Dhoni's hamstring niggle means that a second and third occurrence will follow shortly.

Talking point

The Chennai Super Kings were the worst batting side on about every parameter last season and yesterday's outing did little in the way of reviving hopes of a turnaround this year. "The wicket has been under the covers for a long time now, with overcast conditions as well, so we would have loved to bowl first," said Ruturaj Gaikwad at the toss.

"But nevertheless, we'll look to start positively." And they did anything but. The first boundary was a thick outside edge through third man, the second leg-byes off a wayward inswinger. Then the implosion began - first with Samson being cleaned up and then with Ruturaj paving a highway for the ball on to the stumps. Ayush Mhatre's game lasted all of one ball as he was subbed out after first being bounced out. Matt Short's dismissal was the tamest of the lot as he chipped Sandeep Sharma to midwicket.

On a lively wicket, perhaps CSK would've done better to show a bit more discretion with their strokeplay. But can you blame them when we're in an era where 200 is the norm? "You don't really often see games going down the line till the 20th over when you're defending 150, 160 or 170," said Gaikwad after the game.

The chatter

"I didn't really do anything outside - there was supposed to be a cake cutting, but I went to sleep early to avoid the cake-smearing," said Vaibhav Sooryavanshi when asked about how he celebrated his birthday. Man, kids these days...

"It feels nice. It feels very overwhelming," said Riyan Parag, proudly leading the Royals as full-time skipper at his home ground in Guwahati.

Stat Snack

Last night was the first time in seven seasons that Sanju Samson did not go past fifty in the season opener.

Gossip column

The little birdies have been at work and tell me that some sections of CSK's fanbase have been digging into the IPL rule-book to try and find a trade-reversal clause. None exist as far as we're aware though.

Today's watchlist

First game for PBKS, the oh-so-impressive finalists from last season. Shreyas Iyer and his men host the Gujarat Titans at Mullanpur. The record is even-stevens at 3-3.

While the countdown begins for tonight's encounter, we analyse Shubman Gill's near-perfect game in T20 cricket. Gill's control in this format is not just consistent - at times it borders on immaculate. Have a read here.

Reckless prediction for tonight's match

The ball will be stolen by a furry friend.