PRE MATCH ANALYSIS
Follow UsAmong the sides in the bottom half of the table, Kolkata Knight Riders are unique. The others have common issues. Punjab Kings are looking for a settled XI since 2018, Sunrisers Hyderabad are undergoing an uncharacteristic leadership crisis and Rajasthan’s two biggest match-winners are back in England.
Despite being one of the most underwhelming teams of the tournament so far, the Knight Riders have fielded only 14 different men in seven games. The swap has been between Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi or Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine, to go with the inclusion of Harbhajan Singh in the first three games. Only Chennai Super Kings – sitting pretty at the top of the table – have played with fewer men (13).
Issues with Kolkata start up top. After hitting back to back half-centuries to begin with, Nitish Rana has scored 64 runs from 61 balls in the last five matches. Shubman Gill is neither scoring big runs – averages 18.9 - nor is he being brisk – strike rate 117.9. Rahul Tripathi has been inconsistent while Eoin Morgan has five single-digit scores in seven games.
Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik have done well but have often had too much to do. Losing a wicket every 17.4 balls, Kolkata batsmen were least consistent in IPL last season. At the halfway mark this year, that number is down to 16. Given Pat Cummins, batting at eight, has been the most effective on average and strike rate (31 and 166.1) is a testament to Kolkata’s rusty batting unit.
Batting has not been the only issue for a side reeling at the seventh spot. With an economy of 9.1, their pacers have been the most expensive so far while their spinners, with a balls per wicket record of 30.5 are second-worst after Rajasthan (81).
"Look, on a slow surface, you've really got to maximise the new ball and the fielding restrictions. One thing we have to get our heads around is that in T20 cricket, you've got to part from the old-school mentality of trying to find a boundary and then get a one”, said a livid Brendon McCullum after Kolkata’s loss in the last game against the Delhi Capitals.
Having not tinkered with the XI a lot so far in the tournament, the management seems to have had enough. “A saying that I've used throughout my career is that 'If you can't change a man, change the man.' So we'll probably have to make some changes and try and bring in some fresh personnel who will hopefully take the game on a bit more.” McCullum did not feel the need to guard his words, but what exactly can they do?
Is this the end of the road for Narine?
Kolkata began the tournament with Shakib Al Hasan in the XI. Later, they revealed that it was only because of an injury to Sunil Narine. A legend for the Kolkata franchise, Narine has played the last four games with a negligible contribution. Still seeing some merit in his batting, they have continued to send him at four or five. He has scored 10 runs off 15 balls this season, averaging 2.5. With the ball, his results have been slightly better – an economy of seven – but with just three scalps, wickets continue to elude him.
The conundrum for Kolkata is the choice to replace him. With Varun Chakravarthy as the only option with wicket-taking ability, their bowling attack has been toothless. To that aspect, it is surprising that Lockie Ferguson is still warming the bench. On the other hand, their batting has been fragile as stated above. But, there isn’t a readymade option to counter that.
The options on the bench capable of plugging both holes are Shakib and Ben Cutting. Shakib makes a perfect match-up for Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers based on what other left-arm spinners did earlier in the tournament. But, with the bat, Shakib is not as aggressive as McCullum would want him to be. Cutting is a power-hitter but his bowling is more of the same as what Kolkata already have within the Indian contingent. A left-wing choice would be to include Pawan Negi in place of Mavi or Prasidh Krishna to make space for Ferguson.
Chinks in the Bangalore Armor
Despite five wins so far, there have been two glaring issues in the Bangalore franchise: batsman at number three and the dip in Harshal Patel's form.
Rajat Patidar has been the incumbent number three but neither he nor Virat Kohli could keep up with the asking rate in their last game against Punjab. As per their batting coach, Sanjay Bangar, they have a specific over in mind for Maxwell to walk in, but he has batted at four in every game and has thus come out to bat in different phases. There is an underlying message for RCB management that Maxwell's best innings this season has been when he came out to bat as early as the third over.
While it would be harsh on Patidar to lose his place after one bad performance, RCB can be flexible especially while chasing an above par score. Finn Allen is waiting in the wings as a mouth-watering prospect. But, beefing up batting at the expense of quality bowlers has not worked for RCB before.
Coming to Harshal, in three games in Chennai, he had an economy of 5.8 and took nine wickets. Since moving out of there, his economy has swelled to 11.8. It did not help his cause when he kept bowling at the pads of Harpreet Brar with a shorter square boundary on the leg side. He is the designated death bowler for RCB this season, but since it has now cost them two games, they can either relieve him from bowling the last over when the batsmen are at their most ruthless or experiment with Navdeep Saini whose hard lengths can be helpful in Ahmedabad as Punjab pacers exemplified in their last game.
Probable XIs
KKR: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan ©, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shakib Al Hasan/Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi/Pawan Negi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
RCB: Virat Kohli ©, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Washington Sundar/Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel/Navdeep Saini, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Sams, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj
