T20 is about guerrilla warfare, not a military campaign!
batting in the ipl seems to have fallen into some kind of rhythm which is so unlike what t20 cricket is all about.t20 is about following your instinct, catching your opponent unawares, it is more like a guerrilla strategy than a military campaign
batting in the ipl seems to have fallen into some kind of rhythm which is so unlike what t20 cricket is all about.t20 is about following your instinct, catching your opponent unawares, it is more like a guerrilla strategy than a military campaign which is what test cricket and now, even 50 overs cricket feels like. and hence the surprise at the manner in which teams are going slow, protecting wickets and leaving things for the end over melee. isn't that the plan with long distance running? or the way 50 overs cricket used to be played?
i can understand that teams do not want to lose too many wickets and with the conditions helping bowlers somewhat there are bound to be casualties in a run chase. but it is quite apparent by now that once the asking rate touches 9 an over with about 10 overs to play you are asking for an extraordinary performance to help you win the game. and far too many games are being lost in the overs 10-15; or for that matter between 8 and 14.
i would therefore like to see teams nominate one player to turn things around in the middle overs. keep the rohit sharmas and de villiers' to finish games but have a couple of people to make their job easier. i know pitches are slow, the ball is gripping but the essence of t20 hasn't changed-that you have 11 batsmen in 20 overs. deccan chargers for example came out of jail against the kolkata knight riders but didn't quite come off against king's xi punjab. (Check out Deccan Chargers' Index on their team page at https://www.castrolcricket.com/IPL-2009/team/DECCAN-CHARGERS)
i wonder if two batsmen can take the same risks in the 11'th and 12th overs that they are happy to take in the 17th and 18th. with the deccan chargers for example maybe herschelle gibbs, if he is around at that stage, or andrew symonds can be that person. the royal challengers need ross taylor to finish so maybe virat kohli can be that man. the only team i suspect that would be game to do that is the rajasthan royals who have completely won me over by the manner in which they have approached t20. but their problem is they don't have the people to do it!