Even as Kings XI Punjab openers Paul Valthaty and Adam Gilchrist have been hogging most of the limelight in IPL-IV, one-drop batsman Shaun Marsh has contributed much more in terms of runs off the willow
Even as Kings XI Punjab openers Paul Valthaty and Adam Gilchrist have been hogging most of the limelight in IPL-IV, one-drop batsman Shaun Marsh has contributed much more in terms of runs off the willow.
Marsh became the top scorer of IPL IV with his slam-bang 49-ball 79 that included seven fours and five sixes, taking his run tally to a whopping 491 at an impressive average of 44.63 from 13 matches with four half centuries to his name.
Shaun Marsh plays a shot against RCB on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
The highlight of Marsh's knock against RCB was the 30 runs he took off RCB pacer Sreenath Aravind in the 15th over. Marsh cut, pulled and lofted the left arm pacer for 6-6-4-4-4-6, with none of the shots being a slog. It's this technical brilliance of the 27-year-old Australian that has caught the eye.u00a0u00a0
"I have always enjoyed watching Shaun batting because I think he is technically very sound and plays some good cricketing shots. Even today he got his runs off some very good shots," said Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli, after his team took a hammering at the hands of Marsh and Gilchrist in Tuesday's IPL tie at the HPCA Stadium here and lost by 111 runs.
Marsh has had a very consistent run of scores in IPL IV (see box), but a noteworthy aspect of his batting is that in partnerships his partners at the crease somehow tend to outscore him. In the match against Delhi (May 15), he and Valthaty put on a 103-run stand for the second wicket with the latter scoring 62 in comparison to his 46.
In the previous match against Kochi (May 13) together with Dinesh Karthik the duo put on a 111-run partnership for the third wicket, with Karthik scoring 69 and Marsh ending up on 42. Then on Tuesday, Marsh got together with his compatriot Gilchrist to put on a 206-run stand for the second wicket, which is the highest in the shortest version of the game. Here too it was Gilchrist who finished with the better score of 106, compared to his 79.u00a0 Gilchrist explained the phenomenon. "Shaun is a world-class player. He is very calm at the crease and that helps at the other end. He relieved me off a lot of the pressure today," said Gilchrist.
"I've known him since he was a little kid. I've helped encourage him and his thinking and that has helped improve his batting," added Gilchrist.
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