New Delhi. T20 cricket is considered a youth game. It is a common belief that only young energetic players with sports skills are more successful in this. In T20, the game is played at a very fast pace, hence young cricketers who are full of energy in batting-bowling as well as fielding get preference in selection. Even in the 2007 T20 World Cup, on the initiative of captain MS Dhoni, the selectors took a bold decision and kept senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid out of the team and the youth brigade made Team India the champion.
Despite this, it is not appropriate to consider T20 cricket as entirely a youth game. Senior cricketers who pay special attention to fitness have also achieved success in this format. The most special example in this is that of Virat Kohli who, despite being more than 35 years of age, beats even the younger players with his fielding and running between the wickets. Even in IPL 2024, ‘Dad’s Army’ has maintained its influence amidst the bright performances of many youngsters. Among the young players, Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill, Ryan Parag, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav and Yash Thakur have performed brilliantly, while among the senior cricketers, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Virat Kohli, David Warner and Mohit Sharma have performed well in ‘Dad’s Army. ‘s flag is held high. Let us tell you, due to the large number of elderly players in Chennai Super Kings (CSK), it was once named ‘Dad’s Army’. Dad’s Army means the army of elderly players.
Let’s take a look at the senior cricketers who are performing exceptionally well in IPL 2024.
Sunil Narine is wreaking havoc with the bat
West Indies Indian-origin cricketer Sunil Narine is wreaking havoc with his batting in this season of IPL. Naren, born on 26 May 1988, will turn 36 next month. The all-rounder, who is playing as an opener for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), has so far scored 161 runs in 4 matches at an average of 40.25 and strike rate of 189.41. He has also taken 4 wickets from spin bowling with an economy of 7.37. Narine has proved to be the X factor for KKR so far. In the match against Delhi Capitals, he put the opposition team on the back foot in the beginning by playing an inning of 85 runs with the help of seven fours and seven sixes in just 39 balls. Narine, who has been playing in the Indian Premier League since 2012, has so far scored 1207 runs in 166 matches and has also taken 167 wickets.
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The opposition team gets scared as soon as Russell enters the field.
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has also dominated with his performance in the IPL. The interesting thing is that Russell, like Narine, has been a part of KKR for a long time. Russell, famous for his powerful strikes, has so far scored 115 runs in four matches this season at an average of 57.5 and strike rate of 212.96. After scoring unbeaten 64 runs with the help of three fours and seven sixes in just 25 balls against Sunrisers, Russell also played an important role in the team’s victory by taking two wickets. In the match against Delhi Capitals on April 3, he also played an inning of 41 runs in 19 balls with the help of four fours and three sixes. So far he has taken 5 wickets from bowling. Russell’s overall record in IPL is also impressive. Russell, who is going to turn 36 on April 29 this month, has scored 2377 runs and taken 101 wickets in 116 IPL matches since 2012.
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Virat Kohli’s bat spits runs all the time
Virat Kohli, who is above 35 years of age, is the highest run-scorer batsman in IPL. Virat’s ‘aura’, unmatched in terms of fitness, is such that no other batsman is even close to him in terms of runs. Virat, playing for RCB, has so far scored 7582 runs in 243 matches in the IPL and second-placed Shikhar Dhawan is about 800 runs behind him. Virat, who has scored the maximum number of 8 centuries in the IPL so far, also has the record of scoring the most runs in a single season of the IPL. In the 2016 season, he scored 973 runs (4 centuries) in 16 matches at an average of 81.08. During this period his strike rate was 152.03. Born on 5 November 1988, Virat has scored 319 runs in 6 matches in IPL 2024 at an average of 79.75 and strike rate of 141.77 and is a strong contender for the Orange Cap. Even in the current season, no other batsman is visible around him.
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37-year-old Warner, who has won the Orange Cap thrice
David Warner of Australia, who is among the top 5 batsmen in terms of runs in IPL, has won the Orange Cap thrice (2015, 2017 and 2019). This left-handed batsman, who has been playing in IPL since 2009, has scored more than 6500 runs in the tournament with the help of four centuries. Warner, who is going through the last phase of his cricket career, has scored 166 runs at a strike rate of 138.33 in 6 matches for Delhi Capitals in the current season of IPL. Born on 27 October 1986, Warner has also played for Sunrisers Hyderabad before DC and made SRH the champion in 2016.
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Mohit is shining in fast bowling among the army of youth.
Among the army of youngsters in the bowling department, Mohit Sharma, aged above 35, has raised the flag of fast bowling. Mohit has so far taken 8 wickets in 6 matches while playing for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024 and has maintained his position in the race for the Purple Cap. Mohit, who has played ODI and T20 for Team India, will turn 36 on September 18. The speed of Mohit’s balls is not very high but he is adept at taking wickets by throwing cutters, slowers and yorkers. Even in IPL 2023, Mohit took 27 wickets at an excellent average of 13.37 and defeated his own team GT by a margin of one wicket. He lagged behind Shami (28 wickets) in the race for the Purple Cap. Mohit, who was a member of CSK, DC and Kings XI before GT, has so far taken 127 wickets in 106 matches in the IPL. (*Statistics up to 26 matches of IPL 2024)
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Tags: Andre Russell, Cricket, david warner, IPL 2024, Sunil Narine, Virat Kohli
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 13, 2024, 07:44 IST