OPINION
Follow UsThe Virat Kohli conundrum
Prior to the clash against CSK, Virat Kohli got himself to a nice half-century against the Gujarat Titans. In the post-match presentation, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis credited the knock, calling it a step in the right direction but was it? It was a 58 off 53 deliveries and anyone who batted at least five deliveries ended up with a better strike-rate than him in the RCB camp. It is one of those seasons for Kohli that even his half-centuries are coming at a big cost for the franchise.
At the time of Cricket.com’s Batting Impact Ranking, Kohli didn’t qualify because of the criteria of having scored 150 runs. For batters in the powerplay (IPL 2022), Kohli averages 16.2 and strikes at 109.5, numbers only better than Kane Williamson, Anuj Rawat, Faf du Plessis, Devdutt Padikkal and Ishan Kishan.
The more Kohli bats against spin, an average of 29 and a strike-rate of 101.8, it only feels that the right-hander is letting the franchise down. That isn’t the conundrum. The conundrum is what they do with him. Having Kohli at the top of the order has its own advantage but having him alongside Faf makes it extremely tough for RCB at the top.
On the night, the right-hander scored 30 off 33 deliveries and if not for the late efforts from Dinesh Karthik and Mahipal Lomror, RCB wouldn’t have managed to get to a total above 150. That’s the conundrum, how RCB deal with it, could be crucial for this entire era and not just this season.
Did Chennai overdo by dropping Devon Conway?
After just one failure, an eight-ball three, Devon Conway walked back to the dressing room highly disappointed. Conway wasn’t used to failure, at least since he started his international career with New Zealand. He was a left-hander, he fit the bill exactly in the CSK mould. Conway wasn’t going to bat with a strike-rate of 200, he wasn’t going to employ a high-risk, high reward plan.
In T20Is, the southpaw averages 50.2, is bankable and strikes it at 139.3. So, without Faf, CSK had Conway. But to see the left-hander dropping to the bench after just one terrible outing in the most unlikely of manners. Nick Knight, on the back of CSK’s win against SRH, said that it was just the franchise’s combination worry, which didn’t allow them to feature Conway but?
Chennai’s combinations definitely allowed for them to feature Conway and the left-hander has already showed the franchise what they have missed. Twin half-centuries, this one (56 off 37), was a true reflection of the batsmanship. Conway plays pace and spin well and tonight was yet another indicator on why CSK missed him more than anyone else.
Does that mean, he will remain the opener next season as well?
Maheesh Theekshana provides CSK with more firepower
CSK are without two of their best new ball bowlers, Deepak Chahar and Adam Milne. CSK were without their best death-over bowler in Dwayne Bravo. In both occasions, the call was simple: Maheesh Theekshana. Theekshana is one of a kind, he is in the very mould of Sunil Narine. And once the Sri Lankan spinner was brought into the playing XI, CSK started performing better and better as a bowling unit.
Wednesday was a perfect example of how Theekshana solves multiple issues for the Super Kings. He was brought into the attack when CSK needed a breakthrough and while he didn’t, Moeen Ali was rewarded for the pressure created by Theekshana, when he saw the back of both Faf and Kohli. And when Dhoni brought him to bowl at the death, the Sri Lankan spinner conceded eight runs in two overs and picked up three crucial wickets.
For bowlers bowling at the death, Theekshana has the third-best economy rate and is in the top three spinners average-wise: 5.8 ER and 8.8. He also has four wickets at the death, which suggests how he has answered and solved multiple of CSK’s issues. While CSK will find it tough to find a place for four overseas players in the future, having Theekshana might just help them when the IPL returns to Chepauk.
RCB getting the best of their bowlers
It isn’t something that you hear a lot. RCB have not quite used their bowling attack to perfection in the tournament. While it has definitely clicked in parts thus far, the clash against Chennai was a real example of how Faf got the best out of his bowlers. On a surface that was slow and two-paced, RCB fielded just the one specialist spinner, in the form of Wanindu Hasaranga.
But the presence of two all-rounders, Shahbaz Ahmed and Glenn Maxwell, gave the franchise plenty of options depending on the RHB-LHB worries. While there wasn’t any evidence of dew-factor, it was maybe a ploy from Faf to utilize his spinners early on in the innings, keeping Harshal Patel’s overs for the death.
It was a thinking of the highest order, it was definitely a high-risk, considering that the match-up was favourable for the Chennai batters against Maxwell. And the presence of Conway at the other end meant that RCB couldn’t take a whole lot of risk with left-arm spinners. While it might be Harshal, who walks away with the Player of the Match, a large part of the game was won in the first half for RCB.
Maxwell, even if it meant an unfavourable match-up was at the peak of his game, cutting short scoring options on both sides. And it was that exact ploy which resulted in the downfall of Robin Uthappa, who had no option but to cut the ball. It was a similar plan set against Ambati Rayudu, who once again was forced to smash the ball through the off-side.
