Follow Us“Punjab Kings are stuck in purgatory!” Graeme Swann said in Cricket.com's review of their last game against Lucknow Super Giants. The former England off-spinner couldn’t describe the side’s situation any better.
Mayank Agarwal’s team looked like a team with a plan, which at times wouldn’t work but they looked like they were trying to do all the things they set out to do. If results are anything to go by Punjab Kings have been above average. But when it comes to performances, they have been naggingly close to being a good side, but have somehow self-destructed during crunch moments this season.
The bug in Punjab's code
After a string of mediocre performances in their first seven matches, their two-fold problems were evident against Chennai Super Kings, arguably their best performance of the season. It is a two-fold one, the first one being their combinations. They left out Nathan Ellis and Shahrukh Khan, and leaving the duo out for Rishi Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa proved to be the magic trick. Rajapaksa scored a match-defining 42 off 32 balls while Rishi Dhawan defended 27 runs off the final over against a master finisher like MS Dhoni.
Their biggest problem, middle overs, was rectified in that match. Punjab batters struck at a rate of 159.3 which is much higher than their average of strike rate of 133.7 and lost no wickets, while they have lost 30 wickets in their remaining eight matches.
The second problem was their approach, or 'intent', for the lack of cliches. Every one of their batters went guns blazing irrespective of the game situation and that prevented assistance for big hitters like Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma. For example, in their match against SRH, Livingstone was smacking the ball into the stands, but was starved of the strike in the final six overs with Shahrukh and Odean Smith throwing their bat at everything. That was rectified against CSK as Shikhar Dhawan played the anchor role which allowed Rajapaksa and Livingstone to pile up boundaries in the middle and at the end.
While that result looked like a turning point for Punjab, it was not to be. Against a well-drilled Lucknow Super Giants, they were back to the same problems with the same playing XI. Chasing a tricky total of 155, Bishnoi dismissed Shikhar Dhawan in the seventh over and Punjab never recovered. Livingstone whacked a couple of sixes, but was undone by Mohsin Khan’s angled delivery down the legside. They scored 57 runs in the middle overs (7-15) and lost four wickets.
Their bowling, on the other hand, has done reasonably well. Kagiso Rabada (13) and Rahul Chahar (12) have picked the wickets while Arsdheep Singh, despite claiming three wickets from nine matches, he has been economical with 7.7 runs per over from 30 overs so far.
Is there a reply to Gujarat's consistency?
Their Tuesday’s opponents, meanwhile, look like a winning machine that can do no wrong. They have lost just a single match from nine so far and are top of the table. Even when there are a couple of key components missing from their usual playing XI, they have the right personnel to fill in.
When Hardik Pandya sat out of the match against CSK, Rashid Khan led brilliantly with a stunning 40 off 21 balls in a tense chase where they needed 48 from 18 balls. The Afghanistan leggie marshalled the troops when Pandya took a break from the field as a precaution for his groin strain.
Like any winning side, Gujarat have 5-6 players stepping up every game. Skipper Pandya, Rashid have done their job in the beginning of the season while the likes of Yash Dayal, Mohammad Shami, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia have provided the precision in crunch situations.
A great performance seems to be in sight even for their underperforming players. Lockie Ferguson and Wriddhiman Saha looked a bit off at times, but have two performances each to back their place in the squad.
Saha, in particular, was berated for his slow strike rate in the powerplay since replacing Matthew Wade. However, the Bengal keeper allayed the concerns with strike rates of 216.67 and 150 in the first six overs against SRH and RCB respectively. Ferguson, on the two-paced surfaces and varying ground dimensions, was taken to the cleaners every alternate match but has shown the potential to snap 3-4 wickets in a single match.
Gujarat looked like a strong bowling attack with few good batters at the beginning of the season. But after what Miller, Tewatia and Rashid have been doing with the chases, its difficult to discount their batting prowess.
The secret, as Pandya has revealed, is Gujarat has no hierarchy which allows everyone to have their say. Considering form and team combinations, they are closer to the final than anyone else in the tournament and can move closer to the playoff barring an aberration.
If Punjab are to throw any kind of challenge to the Titans, they need their rag-tag batting approach to fire properly against a consistently good bowling attack. Their bowling department has the men for the job, but need some extra effort to forget the two sixes in the final over from Rahul Tewatia in the previous fixture.
Probable XIs
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan, Hardik Pandya(C), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Yash Dayal/Pradeep Sangwan, Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami
Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livngstone, Jitesh Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh