OPINION
Follow UsIt is that time of the year. Along with the much awaited contests between the eight franchises, there would also be intriguing contests between players which has caught fans’ attention. Some of them are fresh while some go a long way back. Here are five top player battles to watch out for this season:
Ravi Ashwin vs Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle is one of the toughest batsmen to contain for most of the bowlers but even in his prime, Ravi Ashwin held the edge over him. While Gayle is always seen respecting the off-spinners - strike-rate of 116.6, his least against all kinds of bowling in IPL - he still averages 36.7 against them. However, Ashwin knows how to get him out, dismissing him five times in nine face-offs.
Aware of Gayle’s struggles against Ashwin, MS Dhoni gave Ashwin the new ball in the 2011 IPL final. Ashwin responded by bagging Gayle on the third ball of the innings for a duck which paved the way for Chennai’s second IPL title. Just a few days before the final, Ashwin had also dismissed Gayle in the fourth over of the innings in the Qualifier, which Chennai won, thanks to Ashwin’s dominance over the swashbuckling opener.
The two resumed their rivalry last year, after they were teammates for two consecutive IPL editions. In their only face-off of the 2020 season, Ashwin took just two balls to clatter a carrom ball into Gayle’s stumps, solidifying his supremacy over the Universe Boss. Both of them are certain starters for their respective sides and should come up against each other once again.
Ravi Ashwin vs Virat Kohli
While Ashwin has dominated Gayle, he has been subverted by Virat Kohli. The two heavyweights have clashed 19 times during which Ashwin has struck only once - in their most recent face-off where Ashwin had Kohli caught at deep mid-wicket.
Kohli’s strike-rate of 128 against Ashwin is not a number to boast about but it reflects Kohli’s conservative approach against spinners. It is his style to churn singles against them with occasional boundaries to set up the foundation to explode against the pacers later. However, in the recent T20 series against England, Kohli displayed early intent on a number of occasions. Given that he is going to open this year, his battles against Ashwin will give the off-spinner more chances, hence making their face-off mouth-watering.
Trent Boult vs Prithvi Shaw
Only three innings against each other is a small sample-size but Trent Boult has a 100 percent record against the right-handed opener. In helpful conditions for seamers with the new ball, Shaw’s weakness against lateral movement was apparent. Add the tricky left-arm angle to the mix and it becomes a perfect match up.
Boult, one of the most skillful left-arm seamers at present, took full toll of the odds that lay in his favor. In three innings, Shaw could stand only 13 balls against Boult. It was the first year when the two came up against each other since they were teammates for two seasons since Shaw’s debut.
Prior to IPL 2020, the two locked horns in the Test series in New Zealand, where Boult snaffled Shaw once in four innings. Since then, Shaw has lost his place in India’s Test side but has also revived himself through a stellar domestic season. Although, it can’t be said with certitude if he was tested on the glaring weakness which saw him dropped in the first place. Boult versus Shaw, Round 2 will confirm it.
Jofra Archer v KL Rahul
The highest run-scorer as an opener in IPL since 2018, KL Rahul is also one of the most efficient Indian batsmen against pace, thus nullifying the primary weapon of Jofra Archer. The Rajasthan pacer has bowled 59 balls to Rahul, the most he has bowled to any batsman in his brief IPL career, albeit, without any success.
Rahul, in fact, enjoys Archer’s pace. He has twice employed the upper-cut against Archer and has reaped a maximum on both occasions. In 2018, Rahul carted the pacer for 51 runs in 25 balls. Since then, the Punjab skipper has been a touch circumspect with his batting approach, thus scoring 38 runs from 34 balls in the subsequent two seasons.
Punjab Kings’ batting coach, Wasim Jaffer has hinted at a more aggressive Rahul at the top this season. If that happens, the Archer-Rahul battle presents an enticing contest. Rajasthan Royals, however, will miss Archer’s services in the first four games, first of which is against Punjab itself.
Jofra Archer v David Warner
Prior to the 2020 season, David Warner had faced only 8 balls from Archer in IPL, without anything worth noticing. But right before IPL 2020, Australia toured England where Archer nailed Warner four times in five white-ball games, averaging 6.25 runs per dismissal against him. Archer’s mastery over Warner became the talk of the town.
Pace has not been a weakness for Warner but with Archer, it is the deception in pace off the wicket which has perplexed many batsmen. Archer was in red-hot form in IPL 2020 and carried his dominance against Warner to the IPL, bagging him both times he was up against him. In Warner’s defence, both were superb deliveries - a peach of a yorker from around-the-wicket to leave his stumps into a mess and an away going delivery at 147 kph that produced an outside edge to the second slip. However, Warner could hardly score off him, managing only 7 runs from 12 balls, 4 of which came through an outside edge. Can Warner retrieve himself this year?
