Aggressive bowling mantra paid off for teams in last four
More than individual brilliance, franchises have benefited from greater focus on the sum of bowling parts
KOLKATA: For all the money splurged on swashbuckling openers and doughty finishers, this IPL has again proved that T20 is still very much a bowler’s game. Some teams have accepted it and amended their approach. Some are still catching up. While individual highs like Sunil Narine bagging a mean economy or Kagiso Rabada finishing as the most incisive fast bowler will make it to the season’s highlights reel, they rarely influence a team’s final position. For that you need the sum of combinations to be greater than their parts, something Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore achieved consistently in this IPL.
At the heart of their performances that ensured qualification to the playoffs was the determination not to let bowlers go on the defensive. Instead they challenged the theory that stopping runs was more important than taking wickets in T20. Pacers cranked it up to unnerve batters and used the bouncer liberally while spinners were asked not to hold back from giving the ball more hang time. Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin were given the freedom to challenge batters in the slog overs, and so were Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna and Avesh Khan, even when fielding restrictions were in play. Power play run rates took a hit as a result, while some matches were turned on its head despite favourable equations for the chasing team. It had a lasting impression on the wickets column as well—with GT finishing as the most successful in the first six overs with 25 wickets, RCB in the middle overs (7-16) with 49 wickets and LSG in the final four with 29 wickets.
Orthodox spin—once seen as the first casualty of T20—got great backing in this IPL but no team improved in this aspect like Rajasthan Royals. Chahal and Ashwin were hands down the most successful bowling pair this season. Sharing 37 wickets at an average of 22.4, they have not only been consistent in ensuring eight safe overs every innings but also pulled off some improbable wins.
For example, against KKR, Chahal came on to bowl with Kolkata needing 40 off the last four overs. End of that 17th over, Chahal had the chase off the tracks with four wickets, including a hattrick—each wicket coming off fuller lengths that lured the batters into playing forward. This could hardly have been predicted from a bowler whose figures until then had read 3-0-38-1. The leg-spinner’s attacking lines and Ashwin’s shrewd variation lends a balance that is every bowling captain’s dream. It has allowed their fast bowlers Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna—they have taken eight wickets each in the powerplay—to stay aggressive knowing they have the seasoned spinners to fall back on. For a team that rarely had great spinners after Shane Warne, Royals’ transformation has been one of the season’s highlights.
Similarly, RCB almost always keeled over due to their battingheavy squads. This season, they drafted in the right set of bowlers to complement Harshal Patel’s slog-over mastery. The acquisition was tricky though as RCB had retained Mohammed Siraj, who is not having a season to remember. But with ₹57 crore in their initial purse, RCB’s changed thinking was evident when they spent ₹29.25 crore on Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga (₹10.75 crore each) and Josh Hazlewood (₹7.75 crore). After the league phase, they share 57 wickets—striking every 14 balls.
Another side that thrillingly tilted towards pacers was LSG. With Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Jason Holder and Dushmanta Chameera, they have the resources to bowl at any point. Mohsin’s searing pace upfront and Avesh’s variations have often made up for some expensive overs from Holder and Chameera but where LSG really excelled, especially early in the tournament, was in getting the best out of left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya. Krunal has an economy of just 6.64 this season. That with Mohsin’s economy of 5.93 helped LSG stay afloat.
No bowling side proved as well rounded as GT though. The first piece of their puzzle was sorted when they got Rashid Khan for ₹15 crore. Titans then went for Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph and Yash Dayal as outand-out quick options with skipper Hardik Pandya as the back-up. Not just in overall economy (6.94 for Rashid, 7.77 for Shami and 7.79 for Hardik), Titans proved to be exceptional with the new ball too. And by following it up with strong displays in the middle overs (37 wickets) and the slog phase (23 wickets), GT made sure they didn’t take the foot off the pedal.