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Follow Us84 innings, 2736 runs, 35.1 average, 162.7 strike rate, three hundreds
These are Will Jacks' numbers as an opener in T20 cricket since 2022. It has everything. Consistency of more than two years across 84 innings. A decent average. an astronomical strike rate. Two of these hundreds are scored this year itself.
Jacks is a handy off-spinner as well, picking 31 wickets in this time frame at an economy of 6.9. Only 25 years old, he is a full T20 package.
You would think that a player like him would be the first-choice player for any team he qualifies for. However, he has played only 11 T20Is for England after debuting in 2022, the same year his peak began. It is just that England already have a large pool of players. Yet, they are trying to sneak him in whenever possible.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will have a similar conundrum this year. Their combinations are such that their four overseas players are already locked in - Faf du Plessis as an opener, Glenn Maxwell at four, Cameron Green somewhere in the top five and an overseas pacer.
RCB signed him in the IPL 2023 auction but Jacks couldn’t join the team due to an injury. He will be with the team this year. And the RCB management rate him highly which you can assess by the fact that they released Finn Allen before the 2024 auction but kept Jacks.
The question arises: How do RCB play Jacks in the XI?
Use his best value - open with Jacks instead of du Plessis
As the numbers above suggest, Jacks’ best impact is as an opener. In fact, Jacks has never batted below number three since 2022.
RCB already have two openers locked in Virat Kohli and du Plessis. But the record suggests Jacks is the best powerplay batter in the squad to open. All three of them have a similar average but Jacks is far ahead on the strike rate.
The problem here is obvious: RCB sealed their overseas combination when they announced du Plessis as captain in 2022. He cannot be dropped unless he is undergoing poor form and adds to the list of overseas captains who dropped themselves. Du Plessis had an iffy SA20 season. He scored only 74 runs in the first six innings before picking up three fifties.
Overall, Kohli also has had his best value as an opener. But to accommodate Jacks, RCB need to make space with an overseas player.
If not du Plessis, then who makes way for Jacks? Maxwell?
A like-for-like replacement for Maxwell?
Jacks with his part-time off-spinners and hard-hitting is a like-for-like replacement for Maxwell. But the Australian all-rounder is the X-factor in the RCB line-up.
Since IPL 2022, RCB have had middling numbers against spin. Thanks to Maxwell they don’t have the worst. He has the highest strike rate against spin for any RCB batter since 2022 - 338 runs striking at 178.8. His consistency with the reverse hits against spin has helped RCB tackle the opposition spinners.
Maxwell also has the best strike rate for any RCB batter with over 50 runs in the middle overs since 2022 - 382 runs at 165.4. The 35-year old has been in great form of late, amassing two T20I tons in his last seven appearances for Australia.
He is a must-have player in the XI. But if he gets injured, RCB have a ready replacement in Jacks.
In that scenario, however, RCB would want to open with Jacks and may move one of du Plessis or Kohli to three and Rajat Patidar to four.
Can he replace Green?
You would think RCB have spent INR 17 crore to secure the services of Cameron Green. So why would they bench him? That logic is right but Jacks can replace Green on spin-friendly pitches.
Although Green has terrific numbers against spin (average 58.8, strike rate 153.1) but his sample size is low. And Jacks will provide an extra option of spin bowling rather than Green’s seam up deliveries. Not to forget, Jacks has played a lot more T20 cricket over the past two years than Green.
Again, RCB would want to open with Jacks and everyone else will shift accordingly.
4 overseas batters, an all-India pace attack
How about chucking out the overseas pacer, playing an all-India pace attack and featuring each of du Plessis, Maxwell, Green and Jacks?
RCB have three overseas pacers and five Indian pacers. Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Vijaykumar Vyshak have all played a decent amount of games for RCB over the last two seasons, making them viable options. In addition, they have Green as the overseas pacer. Or, again on spin-friendly pitches, they can have two frontline Indian spin bowlers, say Karn Sharma and Mayank Dagar.
In that case, RCB won’t need an Indian all-rounder in the middle, presumably Mahipal Lomror. Du Plessis, Maxwell, Green and Jacks can all be accommodated in the top six.
However, considering Chinnaswamy Stadium as their home venue and the fact that they invested in Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph and Tom Curran (and have Reece Topley), it seems to be another unlikely move to make space for Jacks.
