Editor’s Note: This piece was written halfway through the current edition of the IPL
It’s about half-way into another edition of the IPL. Many of the world’s cricketing elite of the short ball format converge to display their prowess to an ever growing audience of boisterous fans, sprightly cheerleaders, incessant DJs, awe struck corporate sponsors, cliched pundits and the omnipresent franchise owners. This incredible tournament that has evolved over the last 17 years is a true spectacle, unmatched in the cricketing world. Even if there is a minority of purists for whom this is “just not cricket”
This year, more than the years past, it looks like teams are searching for that perfect set of cheat codes to help them prevail on the field. One of the pundits suggested in an interview that the game is becoming more like a series of “set pieces” more common in football. For the players to evolve (and the game in turn), innovation has always been key. A little deep dive attempt at unpacking this could be interesting.
Batting
T20 has always been a bit more adventurous and provides little incentive for batsmen to protect their wickets at the expense of the return in runs. Given that most teams have at least 8 decent batters, a single batter really does not have to worry about surviving more than 15 balls on average. On a good day, with the sort of strike rates on display, it is not inconceivable that each short stint could produce 22-30 runs. Any less would be deemed detrimental to the team’s cause. This could see teams achieve targets of between 175 and 240. While some of the established cricketers try and unlearn lifelong instincts of survival at the crease and putting a price on their wickets, the new young, fearless breed arrives at the crease primed to go from ball one. Such players choose a particular phase of the innings (in the powerplay, in the middle overs or in the final overs) to wreak maximum havoc.
In the world of “impact” subs, arguably, each of these cameos are designed to cause micro impacts for a short duration of the game. In other words, a “set piece”. The batter trains for a variety of situations that he is likely to face in a game and has a plan to create the impact his team expects of him. Matchups are also an important part of the plan.
You hear a lot about “execution of plans” – if each of the batters executes his specific part of the set piece perfectly, the team has greater control over the outcome of the game. However, the probability of all 8 batters pulling this off perfectly each time is low. Hence the low scoring games where the batting team falls short in an unsuccessful pursuit of glory. The range of outcomes depends on the number and degree to which batters outperform their designated role.
A quick check of the tournament stats at the halfway stage provides a level of confirmation to the hypothesis. when perfectly executed. The team that has the highest team strike rate (194) has a 75% success rate, and is sitting on the top of the points table, while three of the teams with the lowest team strike rates (155-161) have success rates of between 25% and 38% are currently languishing at the opposite end of the table.
Bowling
In an era where even the best bowlers in the world are treated as glorified bowling machines, average economy rates over 8 don’t quite raise eyebrows these days. With some teams having a 6th or even 7th bowling option to turn to when needed, each bowler knows exactly what is expected of him. Without the luxury of looseners, they train to execute their slow bouncers, wide yorkers, toe crushers and mystery deliveries on demand from ball one. Not everything goes to plan, but if each bowler finishes with an economy of under 8 with maybe a wicket or two to boot, that’s a good day at the office. It comes down to which team executes their bowling plans better on the day. Matchups are important here too, along with factors like ground dimensions and maybe even luck. Unfortunately, more so now than ever, the battle between the ball and the bat is quite lopsided in this short form of the game.
Fielding
Unlike the other disciplines, fielding has always fostered innovation in cricket. In this edition, it is a bit of an anomaly that there is such a high percentage of dropped catches. Fitness, athleticism and speed are all honed off the field to maximise impact on it. Young players know that excellence in this discipline gives them an edge over their counterparts in selection discussions, and gaining a reputation of being a gun fielder is worth a lot more going into games. In a game of wafer thin margins, an inspired fielding performance like pulling off an amazing catch, effecting a key run out or saving a few runs each time the ball comes your way can be the difference between a win and a loss. Jonty Rhodes showed the way long before the cricketing world caught on.
In the context of the “set piece” discussion, knowing where to position certain fielders at each stage and against each batter is critical. Fielders work repeatedly on specific skills in training to commit them to muscle memory. So, while it looks spectacular when a fielder does a juggling act on the boundary, executes a perfect direct hit, or runs back 25 metres to snatch a high swirling ball inches above the ground, these do not happen by chance.
If there is one innovation that needs to come in, it would be interesting to see fielding statistics make it into cricket far beyond just credit for catches and runouts. The one tournament that could afford this innovation, would be the IPL.