IPL 2018: Tactical mistakes by teams which could prove costly
The IPL is the world's biggest T20 league and is extremely competitive. It has teams which are equally talented to win the title and often it is the tactical moves by the team management which gives a side an upper hand.
Chennai Super Kings has won the title twice and has qualified to the playoffs in all the seasons they played thanks to a superior think tank that the team possesses consisting of the likes of Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni.
Mumbai Indians is the most successful side in terms of winning the title as the team has won it thrice. Mumbai has been synonymous with the biggest names in cricket in their coaching team with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and John Wright being involved in the team management in different capacities.
Kolkata Knight Riders changed their fortunes in IPL thanks to a tactical masterstroke by the owners when they selected a totally new looking team in the 2012 Auction under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. The tactical moves by the team management, therefore, goes a long way in deciding the future of the team.
Let's have a look at some of the tactical mistakes committed by the bigger teams this year:
#1 KKR: Inexperienced batting line-up
Kolkata Knight Riders had started the IPL auction with a purse of 59 Crores. They spent the entire amount but haven't been successful in assembling the best KKR team ever.
Kolkata has got their bowling department covered with the spin department being particularly impressive. The team would depend on the young Nagarkoti to handle the pace department for the side along with Mitchell Starc and the talented boy is capable of managing it.
The real problem for the team, however, lies in the batting department where they don't have experienced players in the middle order. Narine and Lynn would open the batting. Uthappa and Karthik would have to rely on the inexperienced and untested Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill to fill 2 slots in the middle order. There would still be a slot which would be vacant and it would be interesting to see as to who fills that slot.
Chris Lynn's injury in the Big Bash League is a huge cause for concern for Karthik. Andre Russel's injury and Sunil Narine's chances of getting banned for suspect action would be a death blow to the team which is already facing problems in the middle order.
The young batsmen's performance in the middle order would go a long way in determining the prospects of the team in IPL this year.