Rising Pune Supergiants arrived with all guns blazing, starting with a comprehensive win against the defending champions Mumbai Indians. But their campaign never really maintained its tempo after that. Unlike their twin brothers Gujarat Lions, RSPG had a pretty forgettable IPL season and looked to be settling for the last spot, until MS Dhoni’s hurricane in their last match against KXIP spared them of the wooden spoon.
Pune got their core settled during the IPL Player draft, bagging India’s most successful captain and two-time IPL winner Dhoni, and they further strengthened it by picking Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis. Their squad got boosted by the inclusion of Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma and Mitchell Marsh.
Pune's batting lineup was as strong as any other team's in the competition. With three captains of their respective national sides in the team, the side was in the good and responsible hands of Du Plessis, Smith and Dhoni himself, while the stylish Pietersen made it even stronger. However, the similar approach and batting styles of most of their batsman and lack of a hard hitter down the order was a minor concern for them.
The bowling, on the other hand, was carefully assembled for slow surfaces but lacked a death bowler. The CSK flavour was retained with the appointment of Stephen Fleming as head coach and the inclusion of Ashwin, Albie Morkel and Ishwar Pandey. Pune started with Dhoni and the whole squad and support staff was intricately built around him.
The Supergiants seemed to possess a decent side at the start of the IPL and a lot was expected from them. However, things just did not go as they would have liked and injuries chased them like Virat Kohli chases targets these days.
Pietersen was supposed to be their go-to man and was in incredible form prior to the IPL auction, scoring 724 runs at an average of 55.69 and an astonishing strike rate of 166.43 in his last 16 games in the Ram Slam and Big Bash League. But he got injured and was ruled out due to a calf muscle injury during their very fourth game of the season and RPSP were left with batsmen of similar styles and no firepower except their underperformng captain.
Even before RPSG could breathe properly and the news of Pietersen’s injury could sink in, the South African limited overs captain Du Plessis broke his finger and was ruled out for six weeks due to it. Injuries didn’t stop following Pune here and later Smith and Mitchell Marsh were also ruled out of the tournament due to a wrist injury and a side strain respectively. Even MS Dhoni and Rahane had their share of bruises but they continued to play with them.
But injuries were not the only thing that let RPSG down; it was their inability to defend totals as huge as 196 (against Gujarat Lions) and a bowling line-up that never took up responsibility that was a bigger issue. Ashwin’s poor show continued and he struggled immensely on pitches that were not tailor-made for spin, and Dhoni was forced to underuse him on more than one occasion. Dhoni's loss of trust in Ashwin, something that started during the recently concluded T20 World Cup, continued, as Ashwin bagged just 10 wickets with a poor average of 31.90.
Rising Pune Supergiants had their share of some breathtaking performances including Adam Zampa's 6/19 and Rahane’s 480 runs in 14 innings including 6 half centuries. But as they say, cricket is a team game and individual performances are nothing without the support from other players. Even the inclusion of Australian classy batsman Usman Khawaja did no wonders for them.
There were occasions when the batting clicked but the bowling failed to back it up, and vice versa. Let's try to find some positives for the Kings this season.
Positives from the season
Rahane was a bright spot for Pune this season and was consistent throughout the tournament with his classy batting, and RSPG will definitely look to retain him for the next season. Dhoni’s late onslaught brought smiles on a lot of Pune and Indian cricket fans and it would be exciting to watch how he fares next season and whether he repeats what he has been doing for years and years.
Adam Zampa impressed a lot of people with his ability to turn and produce bounce. He bagged 12 wickets in the 5 matches that he played with an incredible average of 9.58 and economy of 6.76.
Smith played his role and held the middle order for RSPG well, and scored 270 runs in his 8 innings including a fabulous century before he had to, unfortunately, leave due to a wrist injury.
Where did it go wrong?
While Dhoni kept whining about not having an all-rounder, one of India’s most reliable (of his time) all-rounders stayed on the bench forever, only to be included in the team when they were out of the race for playoffs. For his reputation, Dhoni had a disappointing tournament himself as a batsman and it was taking a toll on his on-field captaincy, reflected in some baffling bowling changes and team selections.
The lack of a power hitter except KP, who was ruled out without making an impact, hurt RPSG a lot. The downfall in Ashwin's form didn't help their cause either.
RSPG fielded as many as 23 players throughout the tournament. While some of these changes were enforced by injury, most others were done in search of the winning combination. It was like Dhoni-Fleming were trying to recreate their CSK recipe and they kept chopping and swapping the players to find one, but failed due to the lack of some crucial ingredients.
The road ahead
The future seems bright for RPSG despite the fact that they are at number 7 in the points table this year. They have a street-smart leader, an able coach, a world class spinner and some absolutely breathtaking batsmen, and they all will be available for them next season (fingers crossed).
The Pune think tank should look for a fast bowler who can lead their bowling from the front and shield the spinners on bouncy tracks.
Verdict
They sizzled and arrived in fine fashion but then they lost their way, with injuries not allowing them to have a settled playing XI. Things could have been different if the bowlers had backed their batsmen and vice versa during some close matches.
With a future that seems bright and promising and their efforts during this season – not giving up during the last few dead rubbers to avoid the wooden spoon – they get a rating of 4 out 10.
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