Since the season is gone, in the remaining matches KKR owe it to fans to look to play and assess those who could possibly be in plans for future seasons and cycles.
Just my opinion.
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Antariksh । अंतरिक्ष
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Antariksh । अंतरिक्ष
@antariksh
Storm designer
Over here. Honestly. เข้าร่วม Haziran 2009
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If Seifert fails again, or if Powell succeeds again, or even otherwise actually, Pathirana will probably come in for Seifert.
Green will open.
And an Indian batter will come in for Vaibhav to play at 4.
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Whisper it softly, but Anukul Roy actually pretty much did the job for which he was sent out.
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Look, I'll be honest. It's not that terms like 'spin hitter' and 'pace basher' were that well known or understood in the cricketing lexicon a decade or so ago, at least to me.
But with time one learns, understands, adapts, evolves.
When the numbers are so clear in the story they tell, and the sample size big enough, I don't understand why some experts don't seem to factor these things into their analysis. Or intentionally ignore them.
Saying that a good batter is a 'good batter' in all kinds of situations against all kinds of bowling is just not true in T20 cricket.
Admitting that is not being disrespectful to a player. It's acknowledging that they are at their most effective elsewhere.
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KKR need to be careful. In the larger scheme of things, one bad/terrible season can happen once in a while, even if unpleasant for fans. But the real downer is if it impacts future seasons.
Players like Allen, Green and Rachin (plus Pathirana and Powell too) are exactly the sort of players you don't want to release unless you've tried them in an ideal setup with full role clarity and security for at least 3 to 4 seasons.
They have time on their hands and will shine brightly in the right setup.
Since the legend Narine is nearing the end, it is imperative that KKR don't mess this up.
(For what it's worth, I believe even Rahane has at least 2-3 seasons of IPL left in him, but only in the right setup and in the right role. And that's probably not at KKR given the characteristics of other players in the squad currently.)
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@AmanHasNoName_2 Yes, lack of adequate Indian hitters probably could be a reason although they had GG and Uthappa I think, but had to play them in the middle order I guess?
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@antariksh SRH current openers Abhishek and Head are already best suited for powerplay.
Pinch hitting Narine was useful for KKR because it saved them from spending overseas slot for opener, they didn't have good hitting Indian opener at that point.
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If Sunil Narine could work as an opener, why has no captain or leadership group ever tried it with Rashid Khan and Pat Cummins in T20s?
Are there legit cricketing reasons? Or is it mostly a case of people not being able to come around to something beyond their thought horizons?
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@shrey18345 Yes, but did they try it long enough? If they did, fair play.
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@c_soubhagya They and CooperCon give a good start generally, but Sreyash also gets going pretty quickly. Not a slow starter as such. Am starting to wonder how long some batters can afford to be that way.
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When are we going to talk about the amount of time and balls Prabhsimran and Priyansh buys Shreyas
They know set Shreyas is a massive asset & the only thing that can get him dismissed is the pressure to hit boundaries.
I don't remember many games when Shreyas had to face that
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Valid point about the upward shift from 55-ish to 75-ish in terms of being a good PP score.
Maybe as Narine is declining, the number of swings and misses and lack of running between the wickets is also a bigger issue. Reckon with the right partner and role clarity, a player like him partnered with Allen/Rahane could still be worth it.
And tbf, don't recall too many premium bowlers showing that kind of clean hitting recently. Maybe Tushar Deshpande the other night.
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Tbvh nowadays Playplay batting demands 60-80 8 times out of 10.
Narine used to provide these starts in his prime during 2017-18 and then in 2024 as well and it worked because at that time 50+ runs powerplay was considered v good but now different skillset is req. which is less dot balls which isn’t surety with these players.
I think there is still room for a tactical pinch hitter in this format like MI did in 2016 in a match against KKR, they sent mcclenaghan after 1st or 2nd wicket to counter spin and give momentum and he scored 21 off 7 and MI comfortably won the match with more than 4 balls spare.
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@Ck2498 Thanks for that! Reasonable argument.
Although I still think teams should give it a shot for at least 5-6 games in a row to ascertain the odds of success. Maybe often times it's the players themselves who don't see themselves that way or aren't too keen.
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@antariksh Because both rashid and cummins can hit the ball in the death overs as well.
Narine is best suited as opener.
RR tried it with archer in 2018, their last league match vs RCB.
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Maybe. I firmly believe that the next round of T20 cricket evolution will favour those who'll be open to thinking or trying even more out of the box stuff. Not just on a whim of course, but not being hesitant to try something simply because it might look silly when it fails and others might laugh.
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It's a hell mary
And I don't think anyone is mad enough to go with this
Antariksh । अंतरिक्ष@antariksh
If Sunil Narine could work as an opener, why has no captain or leadership group ever tried it with Rashid Khan and Pat Cummins in T20s? Are there legit cricketing reasons? Or is it mostly a case of people not being able to come around to something beyond their thought horizons?
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I agree with the 2024 bit. But also, that was a season where he achieved significantly more than expected. Good on him for it though.
But on the other bit on Narine, I sort of disagree. It has worked even beyond novelty and 2024. Many of us find it difficult to categorise him simply because there's little to nobody else who could do it (Rashid, Cummins), has done it in reality.
Even after the 2024 IPL, he strikes at 170 plus, and averages 22. Meaning he's giving you 22 (13) on average.
Those are GREAT returns for a low risk, high upside, disposable wicket, even in the powerplay. Literally more than 10% of a likely winning total while consuming only 10% of resources (balls) per innings. Plus the bonus of it keeping opponent spinners away.
Rashid and Cummins mostly get little to no time to show what they can do with the bat, which is why they've actually only been able to win 2 matches or so at best with their batting in their entire IPL careers. They are in my opinion much better than that. And teams should have exploited that. Full license, no fear.
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@antariksh It worked as a novelty and in 2024, he had a great partner just like it was with him in Lynn. It's a pair that has to work and an disposable wicket. Rashid, Cummins job lower down the order is different from Narine.
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On Cummins, I agree. Although I still think his maximal value in IPL is when a team is squeezing more out of his underrated pace hitting skills, because his bowling returns don't match up to his reputation or price tag I'd say.
On Narine, I've read the book.
It broadly ties in with resource maximization and not putting too much price on wickets right? Plus the six hitting too. Or is there a separate point I've forgotten?
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@antariksh Cummins could have been a good opening option in 2021-2022 when he was in his pace-hitting peak, that time has passed
Rashid, no
You should read about why Narine became an opener in the first place, there is a chapter in @fwildecricket's book Cricket 2.0
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My big conspiracy prediction theory is that RR will blood in Lhuan-dre Pretorius this season because they know Jaiswal will leave to captain a side after the next mega auction. Heck, he might even leave after this season if he thinks that might help him break into the T20I WC squad for 2028. And Pretorius is the designated successor to Jaiswal at RR.
But where will Jaiswal go? Let's look at all the teams.
RR - Riyan Parag is the designated choice. Time will tell how that call pans out. Plus, one suspects Jurel might also emerge as a leader in time.
MI - Great fit, ideal successor to Rohit, but a tad too early. Plus, with Hardik, SKY and Bumrah there, not possible for at least 4 to 5 seasons. (Although, if they tell him to come, and assure him that he's the next one in line, he could consider)
DC - Unlikely, because the team, the leadership group, a strong Indian core and even Axar ... seems okay?
RCB - Intriguing. Could have happened, but last year's championship win and Patidar's current form mean not for at least another 2-3 seasons, if at all. So slim chances.
CSK - 2 reasons it won't happen. Gaikwad (existing captain) and Samson (next in line if Gaikwad loses the top job).
LSG - Only if Pant decides to leave.
PBKS - Shreyas Iyer won't be leaving anytime soon.
SRH - Between Abhishek and Ishan, the leadership is locked in.
GT - Gill.
KKR - Extremely high chances. Ideally, KKR would prefer someone like KL (can also keep), but a YBJ would do rather nicely, thank you.
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@abhi9says The UP connection is a good point. 🙂
But I doubt this move will happen. But hey, things can change!
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@antariksh LSG should throw Pant
They should bet on YJ
Young, Top order Indian batter which LSG is missing and UP Connection
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@ehubgourav But Sanju was already captain. 🙂
YBJ isn't. And they're not going to make him seemingly. So if he feels he wants to, he'll leave, right?
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@antariksh Just like Sanju,He will leave RR one and only If he gets an better deal from MI, not any other franchise.
Period. A
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While it's true that Hardik hasn't captained MI to a title yet, his skillset is still the rarest for an Indian cricketer. And he is the best in the country, possibly the world currently in that niche. Plus he's quite fit, and ambitious.
So if he doesn't want to stay unless he's captain, the MI team balance will need a massive reshuffle if he's let go.
So I think he'll probably get at least 2, probably 3 more seasons after this. Maybe more.
And that's probably too long for YBJ to wait if he wants to accelerate his captaincy ambitions.
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@antariksh MI will definitely gonna plot for him . And he will prefer that . Hardik is getting max 1 more season i.e 2027 . Post that management will ask him ,play as a player or don't get retained and go to mega auction. MI can release Chahar and trade Tilak+8cr for him .
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