TACTICAL ANALYSIS
Follow UsAfter 70 league-stage matches, Gujarat Titans (1) and Rajasthan Royals (2) lock horns in the first Qualifier after ending up as the top two teams.
Both teams have explosive batters in their ranks and all eyes will be on the Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler, who has blown cold in the second half. Not only him, Wriddhiman Saha has been exceptional for Gujarat in the first six overs. Here are a few tactical plots that could go against few key batters from both teams:
Shami and Rashid to exploit Buttler’s struggles
After an explosive start, Buttler has abated. He averages 19.7 in his last seven as compared to 81.8 in his first seven matches.
Irrespective of his form, Buttler will have to get past the initial threats of Mohammed Shami. In this edition, Buttler has got out five times in the first 15 balls. Out of those five, four have been to balls that have come into him (moving in). He averages 16.8 and has a strike rate of 88.2 against in-coming deliveries in this phase. On the other hand, Shami’s eight wickets out of 13 against right-handers have come through in-coming deliveries.
Even if he evades Shami’s threat, Rashid Khan in the middle overs will be an even bigger challenge for Buttler. In T20s, Rashid has dismissed Buttler four times and the latter averages just 4.5 in the seven innings. In T20s, against a bowler whom Buttler has faced 20+ balls, only against James Franklin he averages lower (3.0).
Good length balls against Saha to slow him down
In this edition, Saha has been the most priced batter for Gujarat in the powerplay. In nine innings, Saha has an average of 106 and a strike rate of 138.6 in the powerplay. He has been dismissed only twice and has a balls/dismissal ratio of 76.5, the best among batters who have faced 75+ balls.
With no weakness against a particular dismissal, the way to stop him from scoring runs is to bowl as many deliveries as possible on length. On any other length, Saha has a strike rate of over 200 against pacers in the powerplay. However, when bowled on length, the strike rate plummets down to 99.
Ashwin in powerplay, another way to slow Gujarat openers
One of the other ways to slow Saha inside the powerplay is to bring Ravichandran Ashwin or Yuzvendra Chahal early. However, this could be a double-edged sword move as Shubman Gill has a strike rate of 150 against spinners. However, in the powerplay, Gill strikes at 125.7 against spinners.
Overall, Saha has a strike rate of 102.3 against spinners and it decreases further inside the powerplay (100). In the same phase, against off-spinners, Saha has a strike rate of 81.3 and against leg-spinners, he strikes at 66.7.
The left-handers' threat for Rashid
Rashid has had his difficulties against left-handers this season. Bowling to right-handers, Rashid has bagged 14 wickets at an economy of 6.3 and has a wicket every 15.6. However, against the left-handers, he has picked up only four wickets at an economy of 8.2 and has a wicket every 29 balls.
In his first seven matches, his numbers against right-handers and left-handers were even-steven. He had an economy of 6.9 against lefties and 6.3 against right-handers. But, in the last seven matches, his economy against left-handers has shot up to 9.7. Rajasthan have three lefties in their armory to exploit it.
Test match lines and body line bowling against Samson
With 374 runs at an average of 28.8 and a strike rate of 147.2, Sanju Samson is the second-highest run-scorer for the franchise.
In this season, Samson has scored at a strike rate of 171.3 against spinners as compared to 133.1 against pacers, a clear case of spin dominance. Against the pacers, he struck at 109.4 when bowled between the fourth to sixth stump line. Further, when bowled on his body, the strike rates are even lower (77.8). However, when bowled wide outside off, he has been brutal and Gujarat pacers should be wary of this.
Wide and slow against Hetmyer
Shimron Hetmyer has excellently fitted into the finisher’s role for Rajasthan this season. In this season, Hetmyer has scored 236 runs at a strike rate of 196.9 in the last five overs with 19 sixes, the most by a batter.
Out of the 19 sixes hit by Hetmyer in this phase, 15 have been towards the leg side. After his first six games, bowlers figured out his hitting range and started to bowl wide outside off. Hence, he has a strike rate of 127.8 against pacers when bowled in this line. To add more, in the last six games, pacers have bowled 47.7 percent of slower ones and his strike rate has gone down to 133 and he has hit a boundary every 10.5 balls against this delivery style.
