Freakish game! Both teams tried their level best to lose it, over one another. That moment when Agarwal holed out to Hetmyer reminded me of that classic India vs Bangladesh World T20 game where Mushfiqur hits two boundaries off Hardik and brings the equation down to 2 to win off 4 balls and he starts jumping wild in celebration that they've won it. And next two balls, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah both have brain fades and hole out in the deep and India sneak through to a 1-run win. Similar thing happened. Mayank for all the brilliance he showed with his batting, cant be excused anymore for inexperience as he is playing IPL long enough and also plays for India at the international level. It was a serious brain fade moment where he goes for a glory shot with 1 run needed to win 3 balls and the scores are level.
The "short run" umpiring error was absolute nonsense. Wonder why Indian umpires never raise their umpiring levels despite being roasted year after year. IPL umpiring just never seems to raise above the stupidity that it always puts itself in. Lucky for the organizers and the fans that the tournament has gotten off to a crackling start and nobody has felt the absence of crowds that much.
On the Ashwin thing - I was very disappointed in him for unnecessarily going for that dive. It felt to me as if he wanted to prove a point to people who criticize his fitness as being "not adept enough for the shorter formats" and he paid the price today by not being able to bowl after that one over. He was brilliant in that over and probably played THE role in Delhi's win. Good that he is fit now for next game, but hope he understands that as long as he keeps bowling very tight and picking up wickets, he is going to constantly put pressure on the selectors for the shorter formats. Off spin is expected to return back to trend anytime as I have a feeling that the over exposure of leggier will lead to saturation and offies/left arm spinners will soon have their day in the sun.