IPL 6: Kolkata Knight Riders - A title defence going awry

The sixth edition of IPL has hit the halfway mark and it has been accompanied by some familiar events – a Gaylestorm, an Amit Mishra hat-trick, a we-knew-it-would-be-coming-soon Sunil Narine hat-trick, cold and calculated Dhoni-esque finishes,  good looking extraa innings host[ess(es)] and the moderately uninviting sight of Pune Warriors cheerleaders. There have been some gripping finishes and some drab affairs. The Royal Challengers are the team to beat yet again, sitting pretty at the top of the table with a NRR that will most likely be unsurpassed this season. The Super Kings are finding rhythm and stability with Hussey back in the team and thus find themselves in the second spot. The Sunrisers and the Royals have been surprise packages with stories running pretty much parallel with the Oakland A’s. Kings XI and the Mumbai Indians have been fiddling with the on-day and off-day switch too frequently, which finds them languishing in the middle third of the points table as I write. Familiar sight greets us in the case of the Warriors and the Daredevils, who have had a sorry tale in which they have more misfires than headshots, which condemns them to the bottom third.

Completing the list of the teams in the bottom third, the Knight Riders from Kolkata have been an off target so far. They might be hoping that an easy win yesterday against the Kings XI might be the start of a turnaround in fortunes, but it remains to be seen if they keep paddling with the same vigour in a pool where one loss at this stage reduces their chances of appearing in the playoffs. KKR’s is a compelling case because they have the tag of the defending champions on them and they started the season with a thumping win over the Daredevils. It has all gone downhill since.

Gautam Gambhir created a lot of noise before the start of the season about defending their crown efficiently. On the personal front, he has been delivering for his team with good knocks, but fails to find support from the middle order barring Kallis and Morgan. Yusuf Pathan, to put it bluntly, is past his sell-by date, and harbouring any hopes from him is as foolish as using deodorant for aftershave. He has been given a chance at the top of the order but somehow has failed to capitalise, except for once, when he tore into Harbhajan Singh right in the first over of the game that they eventually lost. Manvinder Bisla rose to prominence with his innings of 89 in last year’s final, but had done nothing noteworthy this season till yesterday, as he chipped in with a half-century against the Kings XI. It is imperative for him to get those knocks because Yusuf Pathan at the top is a failed experiment, and they cannot afford a lesser batsman like Debabrata Das in the middle order. Bisla has been part of a winning culture already and is thus fit to replicate that at the top with his captain.

Kallis has been a utility player for KKR. Apart from lending stability to the middle order, he can bowl valuable medium-fast to stem the flow of runs in the middle overs. He has been pretty much on-off this season, something which he can rectify sooner than others because he has the weight of unmatchable experience behind him. His knocks of the odd 25 or 30 will be crucial for the team as it enters a high pressure stage of the league. Eoin Morgan has been in good nick this season and should expect a lot of responsibility to shut out games. There are very few batsmen of his ability in the league, and this is where KKR have an advantage, just as the Super Kings have with iceman Dhoni.

Sunil Narine has lived up to expectations this season, but not as much. As a small observation, he has been bowling a little short of length that partly annuls his variety in imparting rip to the ball. As the pitches start to deteriorate across the country as the season peters out, his partnership with Senanayake will be the deciding factor if they reach the playoffs to ensure their team’s is the name etched yet again on that glistening trophy. Rajat Bhatia is a valuable link in the middle overs chain, who mixes slower balls with seam ups to contain batsmen. At first sight, Bhatia’s bowling looks outright innocuous, but he will be the bowler every batsman will try to release the pressure on, and in the process, will be the one to register wickets in case the spin twins fail to do so. Ladda could be an option if they decide to bring in McCullum in place of Senanayake, but it would be too early to judge him yet. KKR must note that the slow bowling is their best chance of turning things around as conditions will start to favour them from now on.

Pacers will be in for a tough time, especially now when the pitches get slower with each game. Balaji will be useful because he bowls variations while Brett Lee would be an option wiser if used little. Ryan McLaren could be a good option as he is a T20 hardened professional who understands well the demands of pace bowling in this format.

Gautam Gambhir will leave no stone unturned in pushing his side for that extra effort to close out games and inch towards the playoffs. The feisty character that he is, it would be highly desirable that it rubs off well on his teammates if they wish to do an encore of the summer before. Belief was the key ingredient that was missing in the KKR jigsaw until last season, when they lifted the IPL trophy.  A year later, that is exactly what they need. But at the halfway stage, it is a case of a title defence going awry.