Cricket news - How do you tie up Chris Gayle?

A light and humorous round-up of the fifth week of IPL 2020

How do you tie up Chris Gayle?

Kings XI Punjab probably had the best answer to that all this while (just don't play him) but now that they have corrected course, bowlers have been forced to put their thinking caps on. And who better than Ravichandran Ashwin to do the job. Not only because he's an offspinner willing to bowl to Gayle inside the powerplay, but also because he's someone willing to get down to the bottom of the plan and tie up loose ends.

And didn't it work!

The one week Shikhar enjoyed

Nobody had a better week than Shikhar Dhawan. Stand-in captaincy, two back-to-back hundreds (presumably as many medals in the dressing room) and a strike-rate that puts the slowing-down pitches to shame. But if you are surprised by how Dhawan has turned his season around, look no further than the calendar.

Obviously, a section of people now want Dhawan as Rohit Sharma's opening partner at the T20 WC. And it may as well happen, given Dhawan's scintillating form and India's penchant for last-minute selection surprises. (We still can't stop thinking about 2019.)

Out of order (and options)

Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes are two players Steve Smith would like to borrow from England, he'd said in a rapid-fire recently. He tried that combination at the top for Rajasthan Royals but it was neither rapid nor fiery. So Robin Uthappa alongside Stokes it was, the fifth opening combination in nine games for RR. Not a place in the world matched up to that level of chaos and we had a presidential debate in Tennessee.

We are not going to mention Manan Vohra. (Just like in the team meetings at RR.)

The jump is downward for KKR

It wasn't a week to remember for KKR, let's be real. Lockie Ferguson made his debut breathing pace and fire, but he was also a reminder of the selections that have gone wrong for them this season.

But what took the cake was a scoreline of 84/8 (which felt slower than Silk Board at 6pm), coming against a side they had once bowled out for 49. Obviously, RCB's huge fan base (now with more Instagram impressions than Chelsea in September) saw some humor in the situation although it must be said, KKR struggled with their timing off the field too. Their new anthem "Laphao" (which means jump in Bangla and which opened to mixed reviews) only added fuel to fire.

What are RR and SRH warring over?

We can confirm that it's not the merits and demerits of having an Australian coach. (It wouldn't be a two-team affair then.) The back and forth was on Twitter and it was about food and we are going to leave it at that.

What we liked this week...

How Chennai Super Kings can technically still qualify for playoffs after 8 losses in 11 games. Mohammed Siraj's seam position. Paschim Pathak's hair game. And the mid-season transfer window (what's that you ask? exactly).

Also, this tweet after Axar Patel carted Ravindra Jadeja for three sixes in the last over.

What we didn't like so much...

Rishabh Pant behind Ricky Ponting during a sideline interview. (Healthy team culture and all that, but let the man speak and let us all just stare and listen to him in peace.) Mayank Agarwal's run out (which was just a very difficult watch and we saw Chennai Super Kings bat). And both Sunil Narine and Andre Russell on the bench. The last time that happened, KKR were still winning.