TIRUNELVELI: When Lyca Kovai Kings took the field against Dindigul Dragons in their opening game of the 2022 Tamil Nadu Premier League, all the attention was on two IPL stars who had contrasting seasons — the young left-hander Sai Sudharsan, who won the title with Gujarat Titans and their captain M Shahrukh Khan, who had had a dismal tournament with Punjab Kings.
As the Kings were asked to bat, initially, the build-up and anticipation was towards how Sudharsan would operate on the day. After all, the 20-year-old made his debut for the state and then went on to win the IPL title with the Titans, all in a year since his impressive stint in TNPL 2021.
However, anticipation had to go on for longer as Ganga Sridhar Raju and Suresh Kumar took apart Dindigul bowlers in the powerplay. They added 65 runs in 7.5 overs for the first wicket before Suresh got out for a 24-ball 37. Sudharsan walked in at No 3 with a lot of expectations, but lasted only for six balls, scoring five runs off it.
As one IPL star got out, the anticipation was now about whether Sharukh could come in and make an impact. But out in the middle were Shijit Chandran and U Mukilesh, hitting boundaries for fun. The duo manipulated the field, picking up boundaries at will. While the talk was all about them warming up the stage for their skipper, Mukilesh and Shijit added 78 runs from just 39 balls themselves in the middle-overs, stealing the limelight.
They kept going after almost every delivery to an extent where one might have wondered if it was Shahrukh's Kovai Kings or Punjab Kings. It seemed like that was just the brand of cricket they were going to play. While Shijit made a 20-ball 30, Mukilesh fell one run short of his fifty in just 25 balls, with three fours and four sixes.
Sharukh walked in and started dominating from ball one — something he has done in this tournament for several years now — smashing an 8-ball 19 as the Kings finished with 188/8.
Between the anticipation for two IPL stars, the other Kovai batters showed what to expect from them this season. Mukilesh said as much after the first innings. "(The team management told me) don't hold, back myself and execute my shots. (The) skipper's plan is that this is the brand of cricket we play," he said.
Although Dindigul chased down the target in the final over thanks to the platform set by their captain Hari Nishaanth at the top (36-ball 60) at the top, Shahrukh said after the match that they are taking a process-oriented approach with freedom for the players to express themselves in the way they want to on the field.
Brief scores: LKK 188/8 in 20 ovs (Mukilesh 49, Suresh 37; Silambarasan 2/22) lost to DD 190/5 in 19.2 ovs (Nishaanth 60, Vishal 49; Shahrukh 2/35).