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Opening matches acquire Jessopian style

G. Viswanath

— File Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BREATHTAKING: Brendon McCullum’s pyrotechnical display for Knight Riders against Royal Challengers in the opening game was simply sensational.

Jaipur: Quite palpably, the opening bouts in the DLF-IPL Twenty20 have acquired the dimensions of hard-hitting Jessopian style of brutal batting displays.

Brendon McCullum perhaps offered glimpses of the early 20th century England batsman whose deeds were dazzling and compelled observers of the game then to deliver a panegyric about his remarkable hitting prowess.

Jessop notched up just one century in 18 Tests against Australia and South Africa in a span of 13 years from 1899; and that was a 104 against an Australian quartet of Hugh Trumble, John Saunders, Warwick Armstrong and Alf Noble that won the Test for his side that was tottering at 48 for five at The Oval in 1902.

Jessop was regarded as one who made a mockery of textbook cricket.

According to the celebrated Australian Johnnie Moyes, who was a player, selector and writer, Jessop was a phenomenon, freak and his batting was a glorious gamble and he did not care where he hit or how he hit so long as he did hit it and that his hitting was so terrific that the ordinary rules of time and space did not apply, a characteristic that upset all the calculations of rival captains.

He is reported to have once hammered 157 in an hour and on another occasion rattled off 191 in 90 minutes.

Sensational

McCullum’s pyrotechnical display for Knight Riders against the Royal Challengers in the competition’s opening game was sensational.

Many were surprised when the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise, Red Chillies Entertainment, and Sourav Ganguly made a successful bid for McCullum at $700,000, in spite of his availability for only a handful of matches because of New Zealand’s engagements in England.

It was from a particular lot for auction that Knight Riders picked Ricky Ponting for $400,000 and McCullum.

In a way McCullum typifies the fearless batting his fellow Black Caps like Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent and many more have demonstrated for many years.

McCullum’s brilliance was a splendid undertaking on a wicket on which there was not even a blade of grass to assist the Royal Challengers attack that was without South African Dale Steyn, Australian Nathan Bracken and Bangladesh’s Abdur Razzaq.

If McCullum’s 158 off a mere 73 balls with 23 boundary hits (10x4, 13x6) was a phenomenal effort, Michael Hussey’s 50 off 33 balls and then 100 off 50 balls, before reaching an unbeaten 116 (8x4, 9x6) was a singular effort that mirrored his passion and faith in his own destiny on a day when he raced to the fastest century in the Twenty20 format.

Just to think of it, not a single franchisee picked up Hussey (with a base price of $250,000) in the first auction when Kolkata opted for his brother David at $625,000. Another Australian, James Hopes, freed his arms to make a 33-ball 71 with five fours and two sixes for the Kings XI Punjab.

While McCullum and Hussey’s stay in the IPL would be restricted to a few matches, Hopes will be available for Priety Zinta’s team for all the matches.

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