Royal Challengers Bangalore notched up their second win in IPL 2022 with a stunning comeback in the final few overs of the run chase against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. Here, we reflect a bit on the game through some burning analytical questions and a dissection of the tactics employed by the teams.
Why is Jos Buttler going way slower than usual?
The other night Jos Buttler compiled the joint-slowest hundred in IPL history off 66 balls and on Tuesday, until he smashed four sixes off the last seven balls he faced, Buttler was on 43 off 40 balls. This is quite unlike the fierce avatar of Buttler we have seen for England and other franchises around the globe over the years.
Jos Buttler in action against RCB. Sportzpics
So why exactly is Buttler, who appears to be in decent, if not great, touch, batting slower than usual? This is likely to do with the makeup of the RR side that has five exceptional top-order batters and a very long tail. With Riyan Parag, still unproven, at No 6 and Ravichandran Ashwin at No 7, the lower middle-order is very thin on paper.
To add to the woes, RR’s No 8-No 11 batters are all proper tail-enders who would inevitably take the No.11 spot if they played for another team. This makes it necessary that one of RR’s top-order players bat deep into the innings and with Sanju Samson falling early here, the onus fell on Buttler who looked to do exactly that and capitalised in the death overs with some big shots.
How numbers don’t quite reflect how good Akash Deep was
4-0-44-0: Akash Deep’s figures at the end of the match against Rajasthan Royals makes for dismal reading. But truth be told, those numbers do not quite reflect how well Deep bowled.
He had two catches dropped off his bowling – one a return catch that he himself shelled – that gave Buttler two lives and then in the final over, the third umpire deemed he had his foot over the line and called no-ball for a delivery when replays confirmed Deep actually had something behind the line. The free hit as a result of this no-ball disappeared for a six and Deep, under pressure by then, missed his length next ball to concede six more.
In his first three overs, Deep went for just 21 runs, including a brilliant four-run over against the pair of Buttler and Samson as soon as the latter walked in to bat.
Why is Sanju Samson struggling against Wanindu Hasaranga?
In 15 balls in T20 cricket, Sanju Samson has been dismissed four times by Wanindu Hasaranga and his biggest nemesis has been the googly. Trapped in front of the stumps thrice by googlies in international cricket by Hasaranga, Samson clearly struggled to read the leg-spinner from his hands, and reading Hasaranga off the pitch becomes an issue because of his pace.
This was reflected in his three LBW dismissals to Hasaranga across 2020 and 2021 for India against Sri Lanka, each time playing all over the delivery and struggling to nail down the line properly. Here, he received a slider that he could only lob back to Hasaranga, but the seeds of doubt were planted the previous delivery itself when he was nearly trapped in front by another googly. With the dismissals playing in his mind, Hasaranga pushed one straight through and Samson once again struggled to read it.
Why Rajasthan Royals made a tactical error in delaying Yuzvendra Chahal’s final over?
If you could pinpoint one place where the game was won and lost, it was when Dinesh Karthik walked in to bat. Rajasthan Royals had the luxury of using Chahal – who had been ultra-impressive until then with figures of 3-0-11-2 – right then to Karthik in the 15th over with RCB needing 82 to win from seven overs at that point.
Chahal is an excellent matchup for Karthik. Before the match, and since 2020 in the IPL, Karthik has been dismissed by leg-spinners seven times in 33 balls, averaging a meagre 3.3 against them. Instead of using Chahal then to break the game open, RR chose to bring on Ravichandran Ashwin, a move that cost them 21 runs.
RR weren’t done with that. They kept holding back Chahal and bowled two overs of pace, something that once again cost them big (29 runs in 2 overs). Karthik has an impeccable record against pace since 2020 in the IPL, striking at 145.24 against them. The two overs from the quicks meant RR used Chahal in the 17th over, by when the equation had come down to 45 runs in five overs. Karthik could then afford to go mild on Chahal and play him out to attack at the other end against quicks.
How did RCB play the matchup card to perfection with Shahbaz Ahmed?
Shahbaz Ahmed walked in to bat at 64/4 in two separate matches this season, both in completely contrasting situations. Against KKR, Royal Challengers Bangalore needed 129 to win, while here they needed 170 for victory. Shahbaz played the perfect role in the situation, putting up vital partnerships and helping RCB claw back into the game.
Notably, Shahbaz did it at a good scoring rate, smashing runs at a strike rate in excess of 150 this season in the IPL. On Tuesday, RCB had to delay Karthik’s entry point to give him minimal overs of spin and use Shahbaz to take on the spinners and quicks. Although Karthik ended up walking to the crease soon, Shahbaz’s role as a floater caught the eye again.
With the RCB middle-order lacking a strong left-hander, Shahbaz has been used as someone capable of taking of stepping into that role time and again. The 27-year-old has been smart with his batting this year, biding his time against spinners (he averages 13 and strikes at 86.7 against spin this year) and taking down pace at a strike-rate of 190.32. This is also in sync with his career strike rates against pace and spin, suggesting that once Glenn Maxwell returns to the fold, Shahbaz’s utility as a pace-hitting middle overs batter would be even more crucial.