3 times a captain dropping himself down the order backfired for his team in the IPL
The 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has reached the final leg of the league stage, and, with three or four games to go, the table is packed with multiple teams either level on points or within touching distance of the playoff spots.
The defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) are on top of the standings with seven wins from ten games, with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) breathing down their necks in second place with six wins from 11 games.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Delhi Capitals (DC), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are struggling at the bottom of the table with six losses, leaving them one defeat short of virtual elimination from playoff qualification.
As the league stage enters its final fortnight, the teams will understand the consequence of each game and will look to put their best foot forward to finish in the top four and qualify for the playoffs.
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With the stakes at the highest, the two most successful IPL franchises, CSK and the Mumbai Indians (MI), battled it out for bragging rights and points table supremacy in Match no. 49 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, May 6.
The high-octane encounter, after much anticipation, turned out to be a damp squib as the home team chased down MI's paltry total of 139 with six wickets and 14 balls to spare.
The game started terribly for MI as they were without their emerging star Tilak Varma due to an illness. This led to a rejig in their batting order, with the tall Australian Cameron Green opening the batting and skipper Rohit Sharma batting at one-drop.
The move backfired miserably as MI fell to 14-3 inside three overs with the openers and the skipper all dismissed cheaply by CSK's opening bowlers, Tushar Deshpande and Deepak Chahar.
Rohit later admitted the change in his batting position from opening to No. 3 was done to ensure an Indian batter was there in the middle overs to tackle the CSK spinners.
Historically, the IPL has seen many captains come down the batting order from their usual position for the team's benefit. While some have worked, there have been others that have failed.
Let's look at three instances in IPL history when a captain demoting himself down the batting order backfired for his team.
# 1. Rohit Sharma VS DD, IPL 2018
Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma has tried coming down the batting order in prior IPL seasons as well, either for better team balance or due to his lack of batting order. After playing most of the 2017 season in the middle order, Rohit was back as an opener to start the 2018 season.
However, after scores of 15 and 11 in his opening two games against CSK and SRH, both of which ended up with MI being on the wrong end of the result, Rohit decided to drop himself down the order in the next game against the Delhi Daredevils.
However, the move backfired as Rohit, batting at No. 4, scored just 18 off 15 deliveries in a seven-wicket defeat to the Daredevils.
The result was the third of MI's three consecutive losses in their opening three games, playing a substantial role in the franchise missing out on the playoffs a year after winning the title.
# 2. Virat Kohli VS PBKS, IPL 2020
RCB skipper Virat Kohli decided to demote himself to No. 4 in their second match of the season against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2020.
After winning their season opener against SRH by ten runs, the RCB bowlers were slaughtered by KL Rahul in their second game against PBKS and conceded a mammoth 206-7 in 20 overs.
RCB tried to go all guns blazing in the powerplay but lost the wicket of Devdutt Padikal in the opening over of the run chase. Skipper Kohli sent out attacking Australian opener Josh Phillipe in his customary No. 3 position to maximize the first six overs.
However, the plan backfired, with Phillipe getting dismissed for a three-ball duck and Kohli, batting a No. 4, being dismissed for just a single run in five balls to leave RCB in disarray. They eventually went on to lose by a humungous margin of 97 runs.
# 3. Sanju Samson VS DC, IPL 2022
Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson made the wrong move by batting at No. 5 in match 58 of IPL 2022 against DC.
Despite the team going strong with seven wins from eleven matches, including the skipper himself being amongst the runs, the think tank decided to change the batting order. To add depth to the batting lineup, RR sent all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin at No. 3, with skipper Samson dropping to No. 5 in the batting order.
Sanju had made a quickfire 23 off 12 balls at No. 3 in RR's previous game against PBKS, resulting in a brilliant run chase of 190.
This baffling move resulted in the Royals making only 160-6 in their 20 overs, with Samson being dismissed for six runs off four balls. Delhi chased the target comfortably with eight wickets and 11 balls to spare.