IPL 2021: RCB's new stars show great promise in season opener against MI
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were one of the focal points of the player auction for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). In fact, Virat Kohli's men were the hottest topic of discussion even before the auction, as they were one of two teams to pull off trades.
While Harshal Patel and Daniel Sams made their way to RCB from the Delhi Capitals, Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian and Glenn Maxwell were among those acquired in the auction. And in the first game of IPL 2021, against the Mumbai Indians (MI), a number of RCB's new recruits delivered.
Their performances were a welcome sign of optimism for RCB, whose quest to win their first IPL title has been one of pain and heartbreak.
Jamieson, Harshal and Maxwell impress for RCB in IPL 2021 season opener
Jamieson sent down an impressive four-over spell, conceding just 27 runs and picking up the massive wicket of the in-form Suryakumar Yadav. Bought for INR 15 crores in the IPL 2021 auction, the Kiwi quick was under the scanner after a disastrous T20I series against Australia.
But Jamieson showed all the qualities that make him one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in the world. He hurried batsmen with some extra pace, caused problems with his height, nailed a yorker that shattered Krunal Pandya's bat and even ran hard in the latter part of RCB's innings.
If Jamieson can replicate his performance from the opening game over the course of IPL 2021, he will justify his astronomical price tag. He will take RCB significantly closer to the playoffs.
Harshal, meanwhile, had a dream return to the team he played for from 2012 to 2017. After his breakthrough year in 2015, where he picked up 17 wickets in 15 games at an economy rate of 7.48, his IPL career had fallen off a bit. But he resuscitated it in some fashion against MI.
Lethal with his yorkers, deceptive with his slower balls, and unpredictable with his length variations, Harshal scalped the first-ever 5-wicket haul against MI in IPL history. He justified the decision to play him ahead of Navdeep Saini, and even hit the winning runs off the final delivery of the run-chase.
Harshal did seem like a smart trade as he was on the back of a superb domestic season with Haryana, but he exceeded all expectations against MI.
Glenn Maxwell was perhaps the most promising of the lot, simply because a huge section of the cricketing fraternity expected him to fail. The Aussie all-rounder has been a miserable underperformer for most of his IPL career, but he seemed bogged down neither by past failures nor by his INR 14.25 crore price tag.
Maxwell reverse-swept and lofted with abandon, taking on the MI spinners effortlessly after coming in at No. 4 ahead of AB de Villiers. It remains to be seen if RCB continue to play him ahead of their South African superstar - if anything, that gives Maxwell the freedom to play his shots with the knowledge that an experienced, world-class batsman in still in the hut.
Maxwell has been a hit-and-miss batsman throughout his career both in the IPL and for Australia at the international level. But if he can be a hit more often than a miss this year, he will win a significant portion of group-stage games for RCB.
Overall, RCB's new recruits showed great promise in the IPL 2021 season opener. This was exactly what the team needed, and they need to ensure that this momentum isn't lost at any point during the league phase.