IPL 2023: Mohammed Siraj roars, Virat Kohli cam resumes and Rohit Sharma’s workload woes

Happy Kohli, Laughing Kohli 
A clear sign that Virat Kohli has had a satisfying day as a batsman is when he starts to enjoy his partner’s shots, laughing and showing his incredulity. When Glenn Maxwell got off the mark with an outrageous flat-batted six over cover and a top-edged whack over fine leg, no one was more happy than Kohli. He doubled over his bat for the first shot, holding his tummy in his characterically exaggerated reaction. And hugged Maxwell for the second hit. And then, Kohli finished off the game with a thunderous wallop over the straight boundary, hugged Rohit Sharma, before walking off laughing with Maxwell.
– Sriram Veera
Siraj’s theatre of screams 
Before joy, there was agony for Mohammed Siraj. The first ball of the second over blasted onto Ishan Kishan’s pads. The ball had landed just outside the leg-stump, before it seamed into Kishan. but that did not deter Siraj from belting out so loud an appeal that it could have been heard from the Brigade Road. Siraj is the pace-bowling equivalent of Nathan Lyon, who possesses the most theatrical and energetic appeal in cricket. RCB skipper Faf du Plessis immediately turned down Siraj’s request for a referral, the bowler reluctantly buying his captain’s logic. The second ball a fraction shorter but of a similar line cut Kishan into half and had him hopping. Kishan had enough, the next ball, he swiped across the line and outside-edged to third-man. So short was the boundary that a bit more wood would have seen the ball over the ropes. But that was not to be, and Siraj was ecstatic, ripping out a roar louder than his appeal and clenching his fs. There was little anger, but pure joy. And for his appeals and celebrations alone, Siraj is worth watching.
– Sandip G 
Kohli cam starts to whir
It didn’t take long for Virat Kohli cam to be on. When Dinesh Karthik and the bowler Mohammad Siraj collided to drop Rohit Sharma, Kohli had the most animated reaction: a scream of agony with his hands flailing in frustration. Next over, when Akash Deep induced Rohit to nick to Dinesh Karthik, Kohli ran a celebratory run towards Karthik, who was pretty controlled and quiet, and lifted him as well. Watching this, with a smile even as he ran in, was Faf du Plessis.

They dropped the catch of Rohit Sharma.
Watch the reaction of Virat Kohli.#RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/GfGBbmjnUA
— Praveen Singh (@Praveen93718143) April 2, 2023
They dropped the catch of Rohit Sharma.
– Sriram Veera 
On collision course 
An exuberant bowler and an energetic keeper is a recipe for impulsive referrals as well as potential collisions. So when Rohit Sharma top-edged a pull off Mohammed Siraj, the bowler teed off like an uncoiled spring. Then so did Dinesh Karthik with big flashing gloves. Both converged at pace, eyes on the ball, utterly unaware of each other’s presence and collided. Fortunately, both escaped uninjured, as replays later showed that the contact was between the shoulders and not a clash of heads, or the head crashing onto the nose (Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie in Colombo) or teeth meeting cheek (Moises Henriques and Rory Burns in a county game, after which the match was abandoned).  After both Siraj and Karthik dragged back to their feet, Karthik seemed to gesture that he had called for the catch. Siraj replied that he didn’t hear any. Perhaps, his cry for catch was lost in the deafening noise in the crowd. Anyway, it did not turn out to be costly. For referring how to avoid an onrushing fielder watch a pearler off Mohammed Kaif, escaping an onrushing Hemang Badani, in the dying stages of a thriller in Karachi 2004.
– Sandip G 
Midas goes missing

A four off Michael Bracewell seemed to ease Suryakumar Yadav’s recent woes. His last five international outings read 0,0,0, 8, and 24. The form hung heavily on his mind, as he scratched and scraped around until he bludgeoned the off-spinner from New Zealand. It was not the prettiest of his strokes, more brute force than sumptuous timing. But it would not have mattered, because Yadav needed runs, and it could have been that one shot batsmen often romanticise that changed their career around. The next ball was short and wide, and in better touch, he would have glided it behind point. But here he was all power and went hard at the ball, more of a wild slash than delicate cut. He sweet-spotted, but Shahbaz Ahmed’s fast hands gobbled up the airborne shot. A draught Yadav stared pensively at his bat. Where has his touch of Midas vanished?
– Sandip G 
Too much load?
The words ‘Rohit Sharma’ and ‘workload management’ have been used so much in the same sentence in recent times that one wondered whether the Mumbai Indians skipper will be there to lead his side in their season opener. And during a torrid time in the middle against Royal Challengers Bangalore, it seemed his mind was elsewhere. A score of 1 off 10 balls at the top of the innings reads bad enough, but he wouldn’t have lasted that long if a routine top edge had been pouched.
Rohit looked rusty and dracted during the short yet painful innings, not finding the gaps and even moving away from the stumps with the bowler in his delivery stride, and it almost felt like relief when a flat-footed waft produced a thin edge to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps – a thoroughly forgettable outing with the bat.
The MI skipper had said he will sit out a few games during the IPL to rest and manage his workload looking at the hectic international schedule including the World Test Championship final and the 50-over World Cup in India later this year, with Suryakumar Yadav to lead in his absence. Rohit may have wished he had done it in the first game itself.
– Tushar Bhaduri