IPL 2022: Why RCB missed Harshal Patel? How good has Robin Uthappa been this season? Burning questions from CSK v RCB match-Opinion News , Firstpost

Robin Uthappa in action against RCB. Sportzpics

Chennai Super Kings notched up their first win of the season after a remarkable turnaround in the middle overs spurred by a breathtaking partnership between Robin Uthappa and Shivam Dube. The 165-run stand came in just 74 balls and helped the side post the highest total of IPL 2022. In our burning questions, we explore more into the partnership and RCB’s impressive attempt at gunning the total down.

How bad have RCB been in the death overs?

Royal Challengers Bangalore and death bowling have rarely gone hand in hand and it’s not too different this season with them struggling to control the scoring rate in the end overs. In IPL 2022, RCB have taken just three wickets in the final four overs while conceding runs at an economy rate of 14.30.

The wicket tally and economy rate are comfortably the worst by any team in the league this season. But it’s all the more disappointing because RCB seemed to have curbed their poor death bowling trends last year with Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel doing a good job. Even as the two remain with the franchise, the economy rate has gone for a toss. Last year, RCB finished with the second-most wickets in death overs and the second-best economy rate. From there to this has been a quick spiral downwards.

Did RCB mess up their bowling changes and facilitate the Dube-Uthappa stand?

With CSK struggling at 47/2 in eight overs with the pitch taking turn, RCB had a chance to put further pressure by breaking the Robin Uthappa – Shivam Dube stand. An extra over to a pacer could have worked early against Dube given his fallacies against hard lengths, but instead, Faf du Plessis chose to go with spinners. And it continued for six straight overs even as Dube and Uthappa smashed them for fun around the park.

Glenn Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed bowled two overs for 13 runs, but from there it was all doom and gloom for RCB. The next four overs of spin would leak 58 runs as Uthappa and Dube went full throttle against spin, unchallenged by RCB. It was the perfect phase for RCB to bring back Josh Hazlewood for an over and use his hard lengths to stifle Dube, but instead, RCB fed Dube to his strengths. The game-changing phase proved to be crucial as it laid the platform for CSK to smash 156 runs in the last 10 overs.

Why Harshal Patel could have made a difference for RCB?

While RCB could have brought Hazlewood or Akash Deep or bowled out Mohammed Siraj right then in the middle overs, they also badly missed Harshal Patel, who has been a game-changer for them in the middle overs this IPL season. With a slew of tricks up his sleeve, Harshal has owned the middle phase of the innings by taking pace off the ball and using his cutters well.

In overs 7 to 16 in IPL 2022, Harshal Patel has bowled 10 overs for a mere 32 runs, taking six wickets in the process. With Wanindu Hasaranga from one end and Harshal from the other, RCB have controlled the middle overs phase in most matches. Before the game against CSK, RCB had the second-best economy rate (7.02) and most wickets (19) in the middle overs in IPL 2022. With Harshal absent, RCB couldn’t find the same amount of control and tried to use Maxwell and Shahbaz to put a leash on the scoring rate, only for it to backfire.

How good has Robin Uthappa been this IPL?

At 37, Robin Uthappa is quickly making IPL 2022 his best IPL season ever. With 194 runs at an average of 38.8 and a strike-rate of 163.03, Uthappa has covered up for Ruturaj Gaikwad’s loss of form and been CSK’s go-to man at the top of the order. This is already his best average since 2014 and best strike-rate since 2010 in the IPL and it has come off the back of extreme intent in the powerplay and middle overs.

Among batters to face at least 50 balls in the powerplay in IPL 2022, Uthappa’s strike-rate of 152.8 is the best for anyone after Prithvi Shaw. He has also only been dismissed twice in the powerplay in the five games, carrying on to bat into the middle overs where he has made further impact.

The three times he has batted into the middle overs, Uthappa has struck at a rate of 164.86, staying particularly brutal against pace and favourable spin options. He has been dismissed twice in six balls by leg-spinners, but RCB only got to bowl two balls of leg-spin – Hasaranga to Uthappa – in the innings with Shivam Dube hogging strike and taking the Sri Lankan spinner on.

Are Indian batters starting to nail the death overs batting template?

More than 20 matches into the IPL 2022 season, we have just five players with a batting strike-rate of more than 200 in the death overs (minimum 20 balls faced) and four of the five are Indian players. Shimron Hetmyer leads the pack with an incredible strike-rate of 262.0, but Dinesh Karthik, who has been a maestro at finishing games and Suryakumar Yadav, who really took off against RCB the other night, also have rates of 217.95 and 234.62 respectively, although the sample size is low for Suryakumar.

Rahul Tewatia and Ayush Badoni are the others to boast of a 200-plus strike-rate in the death overs. Over the years, India have struggled to unearth good finishers down the order in the IPL with the likes of Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell often associated as the best death hitters in the IPL. This year, that trend seems to be on the change with several Indian guys stepping up and showcasing excellent game awareness and brilliant striking ability in the death overs.