Punjab Kings need to have a clear role definition: WV Raman

Punjab Kings had an excellent auction and gathered perhaps the most exciting squad of the year but come the tournament, things seem to be fizzling away pretty fast. They have shown glimpses of their ability, with a terrific ball-striking as read, but have failed to continue for long which resulted in them failing to stitch together a couple of wins. 

Ahead of the clash against Chennai Super Kings, former Indian opener WV Raman stated that Punjab need to tweak their approach a little bit in order to return to winning ways.

“CSK in my opinion is ahead in the upcoming game. Because Punjab Kings’ batting has flattered to deceive. They have adopted an approach that hasn’t worked well for them. It’s time for them to try and tweak it. Whereas for Super Kings, things are slowly falling in place. Ruturaj has got some runs, they have also brought in Santner, he’s done well,” WV Raman told Cricket.com.

“Punjab have been mostly short of runs whenever they have lost a game. If you look at the way they have lost, either the opponents have got it easily and with a lot of wickets to spare or quite a few overs to spare. Their batting order must try to use the 20 overs in a much more efficient way and fashion.”

Can they take inspiration from Rajasthan Royals and do something similar? After all, they have an identical approach. However, Raman doesn’t believe in that idea because of the certain Jos factor for the Royals franchise.

“Punjab are too different from RR in the sense that if you have a Jos Buttler at the top of the order and in that form, no team would be worried about their form. If you look at the Kings’ batting line-up, what is happening is that they have Liam Livingstone and Shahrukh Khan, who are supposed to be bazookas, but they can’t be allowed to bat far too early. You have to ensure that they bat 7-8 overs max or 4-5 overs together. That’s when they can express themselves. 

“They also need to identify someone who can play the role of anchor. Maybe, Shikhar Dhawan - he is the one who can’t be really bogged down. He can play the role of a catalyst well enough. That will also allow Mayank to go aggressive from the beginning comfortably.”

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings haven’t had a great tournament either. However, they have started to show some consistency in the last few games, with their win against Mumbai Indians typifying the kind of performance they can generate overall. With Mukesh Choudhary bowling well in the powerplay, they can dare to dream on Monday. WV Raman pins his hopes on him for the four-time winners to post their second consecutive win. 

“Mukesh Choudhary is getting a hang of it really fast. He went for a few runs in the earlier games but the game would have given him a lot of confidence. He is bowling in a much better fashion - straighter lines and bowling back of length as well. If a young seamer, a left-arm one at that, is doing the same for you, it is great for the team. 

“One thing, however, CSK need to do they got to try and tell Jadeja that he can’t keep getting out at the tail end of the innings. Dhoni can always chip in with his views and insights but it is also equally important for a nominated captain to be closer to a bowler and have a quick word. If you field at deep mid-wicket, of course, he is a terrific fielder and any captain would love to have him there, you wouldn’t be in sync with the bowler. He got to field in the inner circle,” the former Indian opener concluded.