“I actually loved the intent to be honest,” coach Brendon McCullum stated after Kolkata Knight Riders had been bowled for a paltry 128 in 18.5 overs.
It is not a statement one expects a head coach to make in public after such a miserable batting display. KKR batters were ultra-aggressive and at times reckless.
McCullum’s post-match statement, however, illustrated he wants the team to continue playing in a destructive manner. It is a style that was made central to KKR’s culture by England captain Eoin Morgan. McCullum has now instilled it in Shreyas Iyer.
Kolkata Knight Riders ultra-aggressive approach led to them to making just 128 against RCB. Image: Sportzpics for IPL
On Wednesday evening at the DY Patil Stadium, the cricketing world witnessed the downside of such a high-risk game-plan. The excessive aggression had the innings go pear-shaped.
It all started with the intent of taking on the short balls. The Royal Challengers Bangalore pacers realised quickly that the ‘tacky’ nature of the pitch meant the bounce was going to be unpredictable. The likes of Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep kept thumping the ball into the DY Patil pitch. But rather than being selective with their shot-making, the KKR batters started to swing wildly. There were top edges, miscues towards the third man and wafts outside the off-stump. It seemed like the plan was to hit each ball to the boundary.
Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana perished to the short ball. Rana’s innings was a glimpse of KKR’s power strategy. He swiped the first ball over the midwicket fence for a six. It looked like a genuine slog that connected perfectly. Two balls later, same shot, but the ball went straight up in the air. It was awful to watch, especially given the score was 44-2 in the sixth over.
The promotion of Sunil Narine to No 5 was another indicator KKR was going to stick to their crash and bang method. Narine’s evolution as a batter in T20 cricket came largely after his promotion to the opening slot. The reason behind the move was that he is natural at lofting the ball and even his miss hits could clear the 30-yard circle. With only two men outside the circle during the powerplay, Narine’s style became successful. But last night, with the field widespread, the method was never going to work.
Narine’s horrible hoick across the line at 4-67 was diabolical. To be fair to Narine, he was just following the KKR template.
Under the leadership of Morgan, KKR had built their game plans around player matchups. McCullum wants to continue with the same mindset. Player matchups are vital and a lot of teams apply them, but batters still need to have situational awareness. Iyer’s role is to take down opposition spinners during the middle phase of the innings, but at 3-46 and as a leader of the team, he took an unwarranted risk against leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.
Kolkata have based their game plan on their batting depth. The auction recruitments and the team balance is all about trying to achieve formidable totals in each match. It is a strategy many T20 franchises are employing, but it is fraught with high risk. Opposing teams are also quick to counteract easily like RCB did last night.
RCB bowlers knew from the outset that KKR will continue to attack so the fast bowlers kept bowling short and asked the batters to play shots that had a high element of risk. Four of the KKR batters perished to the short ball. On a pitch that was two-paced, the horizontal bat shot was difficult to execute and RCB bowlers were always one step ahead of the KKR batters. Largely because they knew KKR only have one approach.
When a team’s style is so regimented it makes it easier for the opposition to plan against them. Harshal Patel’s game plan against Andre Russell was perfect. He bowled wide of the off-stump and then cramped the big all-rounder for space. It led to four consecutive dot balls before Russell finally swung wildly due to frustration, edging one to the keeper. Russell’s shot summed up the KKR’s approach and their unwillingness to adopt a plan B.
Good teams can divert from their primary plan based on the conditions and the opposition. On Wednesday evening, KKR seemed far too rigid and their unwillingness to alter their game plan resulted in a defeat.
McCullum went on to add, “Honestly, I felt like we didn’t have a lot of luck today. To be honest, every time we sort of went for the aggressive option, we seemed to find a fielder or things didn’t quite go our way”.
But when you pick such a high-risk game plan, one needs a lot of fortune otherwise abysmal batting performances will become a common trend.
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