Captaincy weighs heavy on India’s elite power-hitters
KOLKATA: A team is on 118/4 after 15 overs. Six wickets intact, with no pressure to chase, the next five overs should fetch at least 60 runs. At the crease is one of the best six-hitters in the game, making the scenario tailormade for a planned assault. Only, it didn’t come about.
This is what Hardik Pandya scored off the last 10 balls of his 42-ball fifty on Monday: 1,1,1,1lb,1,1,1,2,1, 1. There was no six or boundary in the last 16 balls that Pandya faced, his last boundary coming in the 13th over and the only six in the ninth. This is also by far the slowest of the five fifties Pandya has hit in the IPL so far, three of the other four half-centuries coming in 25 balls and under. So what’s tying him down?
Captaincy could be the answer. If there is one responsibility that can cloud even the most crystal clear batting minds, it’s leadership. And we have many examples of batters adopting a more conservative approach once handed the captaincy of an IPL team. Mayank Agarwal, in his first season as Punjab Kings captain, is currently aggregating a strike rate of 105. Last season it was 140.45. His former opening partner KL Rahul had a strike rate of 158.41 till the 2018 IPL but since becoming captain in 2020, it hasn’t improved beyond 138.8 (this season, it’s 128.16). Sanju Samson’s strike rate had slipped to 136.72 in 2021—the year he was made Rajasthan Royals captain—from 158.9 in 2020. This term it is 150. Equally drastic has been the change in Pant’s strike rate, falling from 162.66 in 2019 to 135.8 this season, his second as Delhi Capitals captain.
The common thread in all these transformations is the intent to set up the innings as opposed to making an impact in a smaller window. Coming at No 4 this season, there is a distinct effort on Pandya’s part to become the enforcer cum anchor at Gujarat Titans. And you could say 115 runs at a strike rate of 122.61 is more than decent. But Pandya really flourishes at No. 6. An IPL strike rate of 182.51 across 28 innings is proof. As long as Pandya was part of Mumbai Indians, he had the license to not hold back. This, however, is a version we are not used to.
On Monday, Titans reached 100 in the 13th over and added 62 runs in the next 44 balls. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling is heavily dependent on pace so Pandya didn’t have to worry about the ball coming on to the bat. With Abhinav Manohar going great guns at the other end and Rahul Tewatia—fresh from slamming two sixes to win the last match—and Rashid Khan—another decent hitter— waiting in the wings, Pandya could have been more adventurous. But he couldn’t connect his shots.
Every captain wants to get his team past the finishing line. Pandya is no different. But like Pant or Samson, he too seems to be falling for the trap that curbing his natural instinct may provide greater stability to the innings. A middle-order thin on experience may have strengthened that belief. But the frustration of not being able to turn it on with the bat, as a result, is showing. And decisions like not taking a leg-before review against Kane Williamson despite appeals from Mohammed Shami and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade are not helping. In the last match against Punjab Kings, Pandya was literally berating David Miller after being run out in the 20th over because it may have occurred to him the chase would go haywire if he wasn’t helming it. Tewatia, along with Miller, proved him wrong.
The one thing going for Pandya is his bowling. And that’s a positive, given that Pandya the bowler—and not the batter— was required to make an impression to be back in reckoning. So far, Pandya has bowled his complete quota in all four matches. Not just that, an economy of 7.62—best among all Titans bowlers after Khan’s 6.68—means Pandya has found the rhythm that could make him invaluable in the middle overs. India need a batting allrounder at No 6. Two years back, Pandya walked into the team because he could chip in with the ball. With that requirement almost addressed to everyone’s content, all Pandya needs to show is a little bit of his old self as batter.