IPL round-up: Kolkata, Sunrisers and Mumbai have most balanced attacks
With all-rounders rendered less useful due to the Impact Player Rule, most teams now look at playing five specialist bowlers.
KR coach Chandrakant Pandit with bowler Spencer Johnson during a training session
NEW DELHI: In a tournament that has fans flocking the grounds to see batters smash everything out of the park, bowlers have gradually established themselves as the cornerstone of success and the upcoming edition of IPL is going to be no different.
If one looks at the bowling units of various IPL outfits, defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders, five-time champion Mumbai Indians and last year’s runner-up Sunrisers Hyderabad have the most balanced line-ups.
With all-rounders rendered less useful due to the Impact Player Rule, most teams now look at playing five specialist bowlers. Some even have the luxury of playing the sixth bowler if need be while defending a total.
So, what makes KKR special in terms of bowling?
In Harshit Rana, who has the uncanny ability of taking wickets with sheer pace and extra bounce, it has a potent Indian fast bowling option.
He would be supported by Varun Chakravarthy, who has been India’s T20 trump card in recent years.
Add to that mix Anrich Nortje’s blistering pace and Sunil Narine’s guile, and 16 overs will be sorted for the side on most days.
The uncapped Vaibhav Arora was impressive last year and there is Andre Russell too who can always chip in with an over or two. In all of KKR’s seven home games at the Eden Gardens, this attack cane be expected to be lethal.
In addition, Ramandeep Singh, and vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer can chip in with an over or two as per the team’s requirements.
In case Nortje doesn’t fire, there is the six-foot left-armer Spencer Johnson. On tracks like the one in Chennai, Moeen Ali’s off breaks could also be handy.
Delhi names du Plessis vice-captain
South African batting stalwart Faf du Plessis was Monday appointed vice-captain of Delhi Capitals team.
The former South Africa captain will be Axar Patel’s deputy in the Delhi-based franchise. Axar was named DC captain on Friday.
“I am very excited. Delhi has been great and the boys have been fantastic. Definitely, I feel happy and ready,” the right-handed batter said in a video uploaded by the franchise.
The 40-year-old du Plessis led Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the last three seasons of the IPL. However, he was not retained by RCB ahead of the mega auction last year.
He was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 2 crore in the accelerated round of the bidding process after he did not get any takers in the opening round.
BCCI banning Brook not harsh: Moeen
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali believes the BCCI banning Harry Brook for two years for his last-minute withdrawal from the IPL was “not harsh”.
It is the second straight time Brook has pulled out of the top franchise-based league after being bought at the auction.
“It’s not (harsh) though, I agree with it,” Moeen said on the Beard Before Cricket podcast, when asked whether a two-year ban would be harsh.
“A lot of people do that (withdrawing). People have done it in the past, and then they come back in and end up getting a better financial package or whatever it is. It messes up a lot of things as well at the same time,” the all-rounder said.
