IPL Pulse: Salt flies, Duffy lands

 

In case you missed last night, RCB didn't. But either way, here's today's edition of Pulse, your 2-minute scan of the IPL universe.

Last night in 5 points

1. Rajat Patidar might be "not defending anything" (Jos Buttler said the same during T20 WC 2024), but RCB began in style, hammering SRH by six wickets at home. They won the toss too, which is often where their Chinnaswamy troubles begin and end.

2. Jacob Duffy could easily have passed off as Josh Hazlewood in a mask. Same hard lengths, same discipline, and just enough spongy bounce to draw the top-edges and deliver early strikes.

3. Phil Salt did the rest. One catch tumbling over himself, careful not to brush the cushions; another flying to his right, taken one-handed. Both ridiculous.

4. Ishan Kishan, on his captaincy debut, made 80 off 38 and looked at home. Aniket Verma kept the six-hitting habit from last year intact. 201/9 still never enough, not with their bowling line-up at the Chinnaswamy.

5. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal (Impact Sub for Duffy) made sure of that. Both hit fifties, added 101 off 45 for the second wicket, and the chase was wrapped up with 26 balls to spare. It was the fewest overs taken to complete a 200-plus chase in IPL!

Oh, that happened

We have to talk about Phil Salt's catch. "You can't do that, Phil Salt" is probably what Nasser Hussain would have said on comms, had he been in Bengaluru. Cricbuzz kept it simpler: "Phil Salt, you beauty." Perhaps that's why it's #CricketKaAsliApp.

For a season that began with whispers about him losing his spot to Jacob Bethell (it's always the younger ones...), Salt began with three catches. Three sharp ones. Two of them were outstanding, and one of them was outrageous. It ended Ishan Kishan's knock on 80 off 38 and even won an award (more on that below).

Pulse Awards

The no-longer-homesick award goes to Jacob Duffy. After bending his back for little to no returns on flat decks for two months in India, he finally found a Chinnaswamy pitch that gave something back. "I haven't seen this kind of bounce in the last couple of months," he said, sounding almost relieved.

The keep-digging-it award goes to Krunal Pandya, whose super-speedy, low-arm darts seemed aimed at uncovering something beneath the Chinnaswamy surface. Maybe a tunnel road? Ishan Kishan wasn't interested in the excavation. He kept it strictly above ground.

The ageing-like-fine-wine award goes to Virat Kohli. Not just how he looks in his late 30s (my gawd), but also how he plays. As the younger lot focus on timing, Kohli has quietly made room for, erm, the slog...

The is-it-an-Uber-Air award goes to Phil Salt for briefly taking the airborne route in central Bangalore. Sometimes, it's the only way to get moving in that area, especially on a late weekend evening.

Talking point

SRH's bowling looked below par. Yes, conditions eased out for batting in the second innings, but the make-up felt a bit off. Where's Mohammed Shami? Instead, Nitish Reddy had the new ball. It was a night where their long-standing Powerplay issues, poor lengths (they bowled too full compared to RCB), lack of pace, and questionable auction choices were laid bare.

It didn't help that Pat Cummins is in rehab and that Brydon Carse was hit on his bowling hand in the nets. Daniel Vettori said they are "hoping" Carse is good to go against KKR in a few days' time.

The chatter

Virat Kohli is gushing over Devdutt Padikkal and saying how he had "plans of going aggressive in the Powerplay" but when he saw Padikkal batting like he was, he decided to "keep putting him back on strike." And Jacob Duffy is describing his bilateral series against India and the T20 World Cup as "a couple of tough moments, definitely a few long showers thinking things through!"

Stat Snack

Some grounds just have a type. The two times the IPL has opened at the Chinnaswamy, a Kiwi has walked away with Player of the Match. Brendon McCullum in 2008 and Jacob Duffy in 2026.

Gossip column

My little birdies tell me that KKR weren't thrilled seeing Venkatesh Iyer on the bench last night. RCB, who got him for 7 crore, didn't even use him as an Impact Sub, a role KKR had quietly mastered for him when he cost three times as much.

Today's watchlist

It's KKR up against MI at the Wankhede. A fine, balanced contest to get the season going... or at least that's what the schedule would have you believe.

Here are the facts. MI have beaten KKR 24 times, the most one team has beaten another in the IPL. At the Wankhede, it's even more comforting. 10 wins for MI against KKR, another record. And since 2023, MI has also had the best home win percentage among all teams. So yes, perfectly even. But there's still something to watch. How KKR cope without Andre Russell, what Abhishek Nayar brings as head coach, and how Angkrish Raghuvanshi, fresh off a practice-match hundred, fares against Jasprit Bumrah.

Reckless prediction for tonight's match

The ball will be changed in the second innings, but not because it turned pink.