In IPL, Age Is Just A Number
- Avijit Ghosh
- TNN Jun 01, 2026, 19:52 IST IST
In 2007, three major cricket stars – Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly – opted out of the first T20 World Cup. The reason proffered was that the game’s bonsai but frenetic version was best suited to youngsters. Over the years that line of reasoning was occasionally refuted; CSK’s ‘Dad’s Army’ triumph in 2018, and to a lesser extent in 2021, obvious examples. But Sunday night, RCB’s senior citizens provided the viewpoint’s most emphatic negation.
For two consecutive seasons now, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya – all 35 or above – have produced consistent prime time performances to exemplify what author-actor Joan Collins once said, “Age is… totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.” It’s true that RCB’s young guns – Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Salam, Venkatesh Iyer, and skipper Rajat Patidar himself – made positive interventions. But in the business end’s pivotal moments, the aging maestros were the men who mattered in RCB’s repeat triumph.
For two consecutive seasons now, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya – all 35 or above – have produced consistent prime time performances to exemplify what author-actor Joan Collins once said, “Age is… totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.” It’s true that RCB’s young guns – Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Salam, Venkatesh Iyer, and skipper Rajat Patidar himself – made positive interventions. But in the business end’s pivotal moments, the aging maestros were the men who mattered in RCB’s repeat triumph.
