Kohli and Ashwin's contrasting use of spin

In their first game, against Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore's spinners bowled three of the six Powerplay overs and went for 41 runs. This time, Virat Kohli waited till after the Powerplay to bowl his spinners. Washington Sundar, who had bowled inside the Powerplay in 10 of his 11 previous IPL games, was brought on in the 10th over and returned figures of 2 for 22 from his four overs. Yuzvendra Chahal was also held back and was even bowled for an over in the death.

This may have been Kohli's reaction to what happened against KKR, but it may also be because neither Washington nor Chahal really have a remarkable economy rate in the Powerplay. Sundar's Smart Economy Rate in the Powerplay is 7.1, just below the average of 7.5 and Chahal's is 12.01. Umesh Yadav, meanwhile, has been a wicket-taker in the Powerplay in recent seasons, and delivered three this time.

R Ashwin used a completely different strategy to Kohli's. He had Axar Patel open the bowling, and then he and Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled four of the remaining five Powerplay overs between them. RCB finished the first six with 41 runs, with both Brendon McCullum and Virat Kohli gone.

Kings XI's strength is their spinners, it made sense for Ashwin to unleash them first up in defense of a middling total. His own Smart Economy Rate in the Powerplay is a remarkable 3.6, Axar's is a decent 8.36, and Mujeeb is an unknown quantity who batsmen have found difficult to get away. Ashwin was clearly looking for wickets early on, as he even had a silly point in when Kohli was batting.

R Ashwin has been working on bowling legspin for a while and has decided to try it this IPL. He struck with a leggie in the 12th over, dismissing Sarfraz Khan, and bowled a total of four in the match for just one run. In Kings XI's previous game, against Delhi Daredevils, Ashwin had tried four legbreaks and conceded three runs.