IPL 2023: Rahul slow, but Giants bounce back

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Here is a stat. In the ongoing IPL season, Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rahmanullah Gurbaz has the lowest powerplay strike rate (105.88; minimum 50 runs) for an opener. The second name on the list is KL Rahul with 109.19. However, the difference between the two is that Gurbaz has gotten out in the first six overs four times in five innings. On the other hand, Rahul has gotten out only once in the phase so far.

None of this is surprising though. It’s been an established template or pattern of sorts when it comes to striking rate and KL Rahul. He has been strongly criticised for his strike rate in the shortest format, especially in the powerplay. He has been and still is one of the most prolific run-scorers in the IPL but that seldom reflects on the impact his runs have on the teams he plays for. In 2020 and 2021, Rahul scored over 600 runs but the Punjab-based franchise finished sixth in both seasons. 

This year, too, during the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he scored 18 off 20 balls before getting out in the 12th over when the team was chasing 213. However, LSG got home thanks to a once-in-a-season kind of innings from Nicholas Pooran. After the win, Rahul came out to defend his approach with the bat. “If I score more runs, the strike rate will go up. I looked at the situation and I feel I had done the right thing. Hopefully with a couple of good knocks the strike rate will go up,” he said. 

For somebody who has called the metric overrated in the past, it wasn’t a surprise he had spoken about it along those lines. Is it valid though? Where does he stand in a phase-by-phase approach in this format? Since 2021, Rahul has had a powerplay strike rate of 109.64 before going up to 142.76 in middle-overs and 204.62 in the death. It is no secret that he makes up if he bats till the end of the innings. But such has been his approach in the early overs that even if he does capitalise, it has often been not enough.

It’s all the more jarring when you consider teams are trying to maximise the fielding restrictions by being braver, not worrying about the fall of wickets. Since 2021, the average powerplay strike rate in the IPL is 126.21 which is close to 15 runs higher than Rahul. And there isn’t much of a difference in his T20I powerplay SR (111.20) in this period — where he played two T20 World Cups for India. Even if cases were made to say that the past two seasons — the average powerplay SR was over 125 — that it was not home and away and a part of it was outside India, it is plain unacceptable for an international batter to have a record that Rahul has. 

In this season (until the LSG’s innings versus Rajasthan Royals clash on Wednesday), the average powerplay SR is 136.73, which is 27 runs more than that of Rahul. To put it in context, other India internationals like Ajinkya Rahane (222.22), Sanju Samson (233.33), Ishan Kishan (165.06) and Rohit Sharma (150.70) have a much higher powerplay ceiling.

On Wednesday, Rahul started off with a maiden against Trent Boult and scrapped his way to 39 off 32 balls before getting out to Jason Holder. Should he continue to bat the way he has and in turn cost the results unlike Wednesday, the team management might not look the other way for long.

Brief scores: LSG 154/7 in 20 ovs (Mayers 51; Ashwin 2/23) bt RR 144/6 in 20 ovs (Jaiswal 44, Avesh 3/25).

<br /> CHENNAI: Here is a stat. In the ongoing IPL season, Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rahmanullah Gurbaz has the lowest powerplay strike rate (105.88; minimum 50 runs) for an opener. The second name on the list is KL Rahul with 109.19. However, the difference between the two is that Gurbaz has gotten out in the first six overs four times in five innings. On the other hand, Rahul has gotten out only once in the phase so far.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.82 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.82 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>None of this is surprising though. It’s been an established template or pattern of sorts when it comes to striking rate and KL Rahul. He has been strongly criticised for his strike rate in the shortest format, especially in the powerplay. He has been and still is one of the most prolific run-scorers in the IPL but that seldom reflects on the impact his runs have on the teams he plays for. In 2020 and 2021, Rahul scored over 600 runs but the Punjab-based franchise finished sixth in both seasons. </p> <p>This year, too, during the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he scored 18 off 20 balls before getting out in the 12th over when the team was chasing 213. However, LSG got home thanks to a once-in-a-season kind of innings from Nicholas Pooran. After the win, Rahul came out to defend his approach with the bat. “If I score more runs, the strike rate will go up. I looked at the situation and I feel I had done the right thing. Hopefully with a couple of good knocks the strike rate will go up,” he said. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.82 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.82 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>For somebody who has called the metric overrated in the past, it wasn’t a surprise he had spoken about it along those lines. Is it valid though? Where does he stand in a phase-by-phase approach in this format? Since 2021, Rahul has had a powerplay strike rate of 109.64 before going up to 142.76 in middle-overs and 204.62 in the death. It is no secret that he makes up if he bats till the end of the innings. But such has been his approach in the early overs that even if he does capitalise, it has often been not enough.</p> <p>It’s all the more jarring when you consider teams are trying to maximise the fielding restrictions by being braver, not worrying about the fall of wickets. Since 2021, the average powerplay strike rate in the IPL is 126.21 which is close to 15 runs higher than Rahul. And there isn’t much of a difference in his T20I powerplay SR (111.20) in this period — where he played two T20 World Cups for India. Even if cases were made to say that the past two seasons — the average powerplay SR was over 125 — that it was not home and away and a part of it was outside India, it is plain unacceptable for an international batter to have a record that Rahul has. </p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.82 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.82 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>In this season (until the LSG’s innings versus Rajasthan Royals clash on Wednesday), the average powerplay SR is 136.73, which is 27 runs more than that of Rahul. To put it in context, other India internationals like Ajinkya Rahane (222.22), Sanju Samson (233.33), Ishan Kishan (165.06) and Rohit Sharma (150.70) have a much higher powerplay ceiling.</p> <p>On Wednesday, Rahul started off with a maiden against Trent Boult and scrapped his way to 39 off 32 balls before getting out to Jason Holder. Should he continue to bat the way he has and in turn cost the results unlike Wednesday, the team management might not look the other way for long.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.82 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.82 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Brief scores: LSG 154/7 in 20 ovs (Mayers 51; Ashwin 2/23) bt RR 144/6 in 20 ovs (Jaiswal 44, Avesh 3/25).<br />