IPL 2016: Gujarat Lions' season review
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Gujarat Lions’ first Indian Premier League campaign came to an agonising end on Friday when they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2nd Qualifier at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Earlier, on Tuesday, Gujarat had faced defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 1st qualifier held in Bangalore. The IPL newbies had topped the points table with 9 wins, and had the opposition on the mat in both the qualifiers but were overwhelmed by some special batting performances, first by AB de Villiers and then by Hyderabad skipper David Warner, and consequently, crashed out of the tournament.
Here is a review of Gujarat Lions’ first season, reflecting on what factors made them table toppers and what factors ensured that the team’s performance could only be called good, but not good enough.
What worked for the Lions
The CSK core
The top 3 of Gujarat in the form of Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina mirrored the top order of Chennai Super Kings. In the bowling department, Gujarat had swooped in two of the best performers for Chennai over the years – Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. In all, despite being a new franchise, the team had the advantage of having players who not only had loads of IPL experience but who also knew their roles well from the very beginning. As a result, they were spared the trouble of trying out combinations in the initial phase, something that sank fellow newcomer Pune’s ship. The franchise reaped rewards of starting with a settled unit when they won six out of their first seven games, stunning their opponents and experts alike.
Aaron Finch
With his broad shoulders and the perpetual no-nonsense look on face, Finch reminds of another Australian giant, Matthew Hayden. And he almost ended up replicating what Hayden had done for Chennai in the second edition of the tournament. Finch ensured that the Lions’ have a rollicking start to the tournament when he scored three back to back half centuries to win Lions their first three matches. Although he found his opening slot taken upon his return from injury, the Victorian continued contributing from number 5 and even pulled Gujarat out of the shambles in the second qualifier to take them to a challenging total. Finch finished with the best average amongst his teammates, 39, and 393 runs from 13 matches.
Contributions from everyone
Despite having towering names in their batting order, the team didn’t rely on a single batsman and after Finch’s heroics in first three games, different names chipped in with crucial contributions at important points. The fact that the top 5 batsmen all finished with more than 300 runs but no one breached the 400 mark tells the story. In the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat chased down a daunting 182 with Dinesh Karthik top scoring with 50. Similarly, in their last match against Mumbai, the skipper was the highest scorer with 58 runs in a chase of 173. In their away fixture against Delhi, Praveen Kumar bowled a 4-run over, which was the innings’ 19th, and denied Delhi a victory by one run. So the contributions came from all quarters for Raina’s team and that’s why one would not find a Lions’ player’s name on either the bowling or the batting charts.
What didn’t work
Bowling attack failed to fire
The team rode to the top of the points table and to the playoffs majorly on the back of its batting might. But when the batting failed to click during each of the two qualifiers, the Lions’ were seriously found wanting as their bowling weaknesses were laid bare. The opening pair of Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar hardly possessed any threat. They did admirably well within their limitations but didn’t have the pace to trouble the batsmen, especially when the opposition went on the offensive mode. In the spin department, no one delivered the goods for skipper Raina.
The biggest disappointment in the bowling department was Ravindra Jadeja, who was expected to lead the spin attack but finished with just 8 wickets in the 14 innings he bowled. Shivil Kaushik attracted more attention for his Paul Adams like action than his wicket taking abilities. Besides, despite finishing with 17 wickets, Bravo didn’t look half the bowler he was under his Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni, especially in the death overs. The West Indian was pressed into service in the death overs of both the qualifiers and ended up conceding 18 and 19 runs respectively against Bangalore and Hyderabad, virtually handing the opposition the game on both occasions.
Raina’s Captaincy
Last but not the least, Raina’s leadership skills raised more questions than they answered. Although the team won 9 out of their 15 matches under Raina, the southpaw often looked unimaginative with his field settings and bowling changes. He didn’t look to have any answers once his bowling came under the pump, and that cost the Lions both the qualifiers as Raina could do nothing to blunt de Villiers’ and Warner’s attack. On some occasions, Raina even lost his cool at his own fielders under pressure cooker situations. The benching of Dale Steyn only after one match and two overs made little sense when all that the bowling needed was a little pace. Even Andrew Tye, a T20 death bowling specialist, wasn’t given a chance to bolster the bowling.
The trouble at the top
Besides, ‘the Finch-Smith-McCullum and who would open out of the three’ conundrum was a challenge that needed better handling. Pushing an in-form Aaron Finch down the batting order wasn’t the wisest of decisions, as was proved in the second qualifier. Moreover, Raina seemed a little too desperate to hold on to his number 3 position when the situation demanded Finch occupying that position.
One can’t nitpick too many wrongs in a team’s campaign where they topped the table, only to be undone by two of the best T20 knocks while chasing. But still, Gujarat Lions look more a formidable side than a champion side and although they had the best of resources at their disposal, they were not managed well enough to make the most of those resources, and hence are, understandably, out of the race for the title. But their performance this season definitely means that they will begin the next season with a bigger fan base.