IPL 2018: The top tactical decisions that went under the radar

#3 The offspinner who opened the bowling - Gowtham from Rajasthan

Teeming with energy

All eight sides dished out a liberal dose of spin-bowling during the Powerplay this past season because of various reasons including trying to establish control over run-flow, but it was Rajasthan Royals who took it to a different level with Krishnappa Gowtham.

He was their first-choice opening bowler and ended up bowling more overs in the Powerplay than any of his team-mates. Fingerspinners have opened the bowling in the IPL for a while now, but nobody except Ravi Ashwin during the 2011 and 2012 seasons, has finished a season having bowled more than Gowtham's 25 Powerplay overs this IPL.

Nearly half of them were first overs, where sides - especially while batting first - often try to get an idea of what the pitch is offering, before going on to make full use of the fielding restrictions.

Gowtham's first overs went for less than seven runs on an average, and nobody struck more than his three wickets. In chases, he provided crucial early breakthroughs when batsmen tried to go for the big shots. Gowtham's Powerplay overs saved his side more than runs than any other player or team, which finally concludes as one of the main reasons why Rajasthan qualified for the playoffs.

Even when Jofra Archer went for runs on one end, the presence of Gowtham on the other end must have had a calming influence on skipper Rahane more often than not, especially when the top-order batsman had a torrid time managing his team in the context of several other departments, including middle-order woes.