It has been a fairytale run for the Rising Pune Supergiant team. Seen as the poor cousin among the giants of IPL — the newcomer finished just one off the bottom in its first season in IPL-9 — this motley crew has now kicked up quite a storm by reaching the finals.
An Australian king, English jack (of all trades), Indian ace and plenty of jokers was what the Pune pack looked like at the start of the IPL. Well, on the penultimate day of the tournament, they’re still the same, having played true to their composition — the jokers turned out game changers and pulled off difficult deals as they discarded rivals ruthlessly. Biggies Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and M.S. Dhoni apart, the Supergiant blasted their way through stealth bombers in Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Tripathi, Manoj Tiwary, Shardul Thakur and that ‘dho-daala’ kid Washington Sundar.With the lightweights punching big, the top trio reserve their resources for surgical strikes, which makes Pune a complete side.
Have a look at the stars — Smith smashed an energetic 84 on the second day of the season, hit a half-century 20 days later followed by a couple of 40s and 30s early on in the tournament; Stokes thrashed a ton and a half-century, he bowled well too, before returning home for national duty; Dhoni’s dashing 26-ball 40 at the death in the first Qualifier against Mumbai and an unbeaten 61 against Sunrisers early on in the tourney were the coolest one’s hot contributions.
Australian cricketer Steve Smith and M.S. Dhoni have played a key role in RPS’ wins.
Over to the relatively unknown. Washington has been a beauty, bowling with the maturity of a seasoned spinner including in the powerplays before taking off against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier-1 with a match-winning 3/40. He has the best economy rate (6.61) in the team for anyone who has played more than five matches. He says, “I just wanted to do what I am capable of. I knew what my strengths are and how to execute plans.” Unadkat is the second most wicket taker with 22 scalps in 11 games. And the 5 for 30 that included a hat-trick maiden against Sunrisers with 13 needed off the last over was fairytale stuff.
Tripathi has been revelation as an opener, scoring 388 runs in 13 games to overshadow his esteemed opening partner Ajinkya Rahane with highest score of 93. “It was a good opportunity for me. I am happy we are in final,” he says.
After an ordinary start, Thakur gained in confidence and has been lethal in crucial games. The experienced Tiwary was a vital cog in the wheel too. “If a couple of wickets fell in powerplay, I had to go in. If a partnership was built early, I had to bat down the order, because Ben Stokes, Dhoni bhai were there,” says Tiwary who made 317 in 14 games.
All had a point to prove and they did it in style. For the record, Tripathi ('10 lakh), Unadkat ('30 lakh) and Tiwary ('50 lakh) were picked at the auction while Thakur was traded from Kings XI Punjab. Washington was a late replacement for the injured Ashwin. They are certain to land bushels of bucks at the next auction for sure but for now Pune is poised for one final assault, with a quiver full of arrows.
