Before the IPL final, batting great Sachin Tendulkar had decoded what no modern-day batsman playing in the tournament was able to do this season. In an age where no mystery goes unnoticed thanks to video analysts, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had been hard to decipher, having picked up 26 wickets prior to the final against Gujarat Titans. Beyond Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s incredible run, the Meerut maestro’s artistry up top hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Watching from his drawing room, Tendulkar had an answer. “In the previous seasons, he had a lengthy outswinger or inswinger. He has developed a variation this season. He has been bowling as straight as possible. When you want to bowl a lengthy outswinger or inswinger, the seam has to be pointing towards the first slip or leg slip. This season, his seam has been wobbly. When there is wobble seam, even the batter cannot make out whether the ball would come in or go out,” he said.
In the final, for one last time this season, Bhuvneshwar had a job to do. He was up against two of the most successful openers in the tournament. Unlike the likes of Priyansh Arya or Ayush Mhatre, Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan aren’t flashy. They are compact. They respect the bowlers and conditions. But, made to bat first in the final, the history of the venue already seemed to be playing on their minds – it is a ground where chasing teams have had an upper hand. In the first over against Jacob Duffy, they already showed urgency to score and make the most of the field restrictions. Maybe it wasn’t just about the venue. They were probably going to make up for what Bhuvneshwar and Josh Hazlewood were going to do in the powerplay on a pitch where there was a bit of movement.
When Bhuvneshwar took the new ball in hand for the second over, Gujarat already had 13 on board. But Bhuvneshwar seamlessly put RCB on top by relying on wobble seam deliveries. Off the first ball, Gill shaped up to play a glance, but he was unsure which way the ball would move till the last moment and ended up playing with the bat turning on his hand. The next one again pitched around the same line, but shaped away just a bit. Gill looked at the pitch, like many have done through this season. For answers, he may have to dial Tendulkar again.
The batting great’s reading was precisely what unfolded in Ahmedabad. Till the white ball moved either way, neither Gill, Sudharsan, nor later Jos Buttler knew what was coming. The experienced Indian seamer didn’t give any width. The only instance he delivered a bit full, Gill leaned into a textbook drive. But that was a rarity. He would again go back to pulling the length back and deliver with the wobble seam ball after ball. “That is what he has been doing. He has been very accurate. His lines have been very accurate. That has been Bhuvi’s success mantra this season,” Tendulkar added.
But even when it comes to using the wobble seam, Bhuvneshwar wasn’t getting predictable either. With the banana swing that he is known for hidden in the armoury, he consistently hit the same in between length, but altered the trajectory. Every now and then, he would either deliver from wide of the crease or from closer to the stumps. And with the wobble seam keeping the batsmen guessing till the last moment, it became all the more challenging. Of course, he didn’t get the first reward, with Josh Hazlewood arriving in the next over and getting Gill. But off his second over, Bhuvneshwar saw the back of Sudharsan, surprising him with a short delivery that was in line with the body. Denied the option to free his arms, the left-hander ended up top-edging for Jitesh Sharma to complete a sharp catch. Two of the biggest threats were taken out in the powerplay, forcing Buttler to come inside the first six overs.
Once Bhuvneshwar found the opening, the rest of the pieces fit perfectly for RCB. Krunal Pandya strangled them further before Hazlewood and Rasikh Salam delivered blow after blow to restrict GT to an under-par score of 155/8. Bhuvneshwar found another wicket at the death to end his season with 28 wickets. It is a resurgence based on complete mastery of his craft.
