In a routine practice session on the eve of the match against CSK, the home team RCB wrapped up a batting-heavy session as they usually do. The top-order had had their share of work done, and now it was time for two of their biggest hitters to pair up. Tim David and Romario Shepherd would take turns to face the ball and slowly, even casual onlookers were drawn in to see what was happening in the middle. First there was a danger that a flying missile off the bat coming dangerously near. But the other reason to be drawn in was the sheer sight of flying balls all across the empty venue, with a heavy “thuck” echoing.
The Chinnaswamy had a smattering of people stationed in various stands and almost all of them were kept active through the course of their session. For, both David and Shepherd would routinely clear the fence and also smack a fair few outside the stadium from one of the corner practice wickets. The session would last about thirty minutes, and by a rough estimate, they would have cleared the ropes at least a dozen times each. Imagine this process repeated across every practice session through a week. And it should give you an inkling of how sixes are no longer just a happy by-product of a well-timed loft, but a meticulously carved skillset possessed by a select few at the moment.
David would joke about it the next day after collecting his Man of the Match award for his 25-ball 70. It contained eight sixes, and one that flew over the roof and outside the stadium. “I’ve been getting in trouble with training the boys. We have competitions to try and hit them on the roof and we’re obviously on the side pitches. So to get one during a match out of the middle is pretty pleasing. And Jamie’s [Overton] was bowling quicker at that stage. So, get on the one, help it up on the roof. It’s good fun.”
On Saturday, David was having this fun with Shepherd, the other half of RCB’s pure-power pair in the practice session. But during the match the next day, it was his skipper Rajat Patidar who had to play second-fiddle even whilst smacking six sixes himself. The last five overs of the batting innings, when RCB amassed 97 thanks to David and Rajat, had turned the game decisively in their favour. As conceded by CSK’s captain and coach later on – that was where the game turned.
What David was doing out there, and has been doing for a while, can no longer be put down as just a freak of nature. For this is now being cut to shape daily. On Sunday, David had some luck as CSK’s plans against him fell flat. Attempting yorkers, they kept missing and landing in a slot that is just too easy for a hitter of his caliber. Resultantly, five of his eight sixes came in the ‘V’ between long on and long off – a zone that naturally falls into his favourite hitting arc. It was the kind of hitting that would inspire awe, the same kind that was on display before.
“I wish I could hit anywhere close to what he hits,” laughed teammate Devdutt Padikkal, who himself has upped his strike-rate for the T20 game. “I think we see him do this day in, day out in practice sessions. Every ball he faces, he is trying to hit them for a six. Especially in the phase of the game that he comes into bat, that’s his sole role and he has done that so well over the last few years. It’s incredible. It all comes down to practice at the end of the day because he is so confident in his technique and the areas that he wants to hit,” observed Padikkal.
David’s innings served a larger purpose inadvertently as it brought the limelight truly upon him, unlike cameos that can be easily missed in the din. This was only his second fifty in the IPL and the first time he’s won the Man of the Match award in a winning cause. With due credit to his variety of crucial cameos in the previous season, this was truly a moment that earmarked his indelible presence in RCB’s sixy turn over the last few years.
Nobody in RCB is hitting sixes better than him at the moment. And, in turn, nobody in IPL 2026 is hitting sixes better than RCB so far. With the strong caveat that it’s still early days in the tournament and that RCB have played both their games at home so far, their balls per six ratio sits at 6.7 as compared to 13 overall. That they are hitting sixes at close to double the average rate for the tournament adds to the aura of being the defending champions, and the alarm bells would have been sounded to everyone else in the league.
David’s name is a misnomer in this context. He’s the Goliath embodying the change.
With stat inputs from Roshan Gede
