T20 World Cup 2021: Down and almost out, Team India need to adopt the KKR model going forward

When the IPL got halted on May 4 this year, KKR were languishing in seventh position. With just 2 wins in 7 games, nobody gave Eoin Morgan’s boys the slightest chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

Then their star player Pat Cummins decided to withdraw from the second phase. KKR were already down on the ground, and then, it was as if they were suffering a stampede. Down and out, with almost everyone having written them off, Brendon McCullum landed with his wards in Abu Dhabi on August 27.

Team India are facing a similar predicament. From being branded as favourites, the Men in Blue are virtually on their way out of the ongoing T20 World Cup. They have suffered consecutive shellackings at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan and their modern-nemesis New Zealand. But what has been painfully glaring is the manner of the defeats – the lack of Virat Kohli’s favourite virtue, intent.

In their opening tie, India managed 151 for 7 in their 20 overs, at 7.55 runs per over, which Pakistan chased down with 10 wickets and 13 balls to spare. The performance went from bad to worse as the Indian team crippled to a below-par 110 for 7 against the Kiwis. Their powerplay scores so far have been 36 for 3 and 35 for 2.

You won’t be wrong to put both the losses down to the Dubai dew. Yes, dew made run-scoring easier in the second innings. But, no one would agree that the same dew – or the lack of it – makes runs come at a premium in the first half.

India have so far used two sets of openers in as many games. And the only thing common between Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan is their strike-rates – all three consumed more balls than runs scored so far in the tournament. Rohit has accumulated 14 runs off 15 deliveries (SR of 93.34), Rahul 21 off 24 (87.5) and Kishan 4 off 8 (50.0).

These numbers are alarmingly similar to those of the KKR openers – Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana – in the first phase of IPL 2021. After the first 7 matches, Rana had a scoring-rate of 122.56 and Gill an even abysmal 117.85. Mind you, most of the matches were played on flat subcontinent tracks. Sure, the sample size is larger and there were other factors resulting in KKR’s sorry record. But it was their openers’ lack of intent that coach Brendon McCullum showcaused frequently.

The slow starts not only let the scoreboard pressure creep into the KKR camp but also left fewer deliveries for the power-packed middle-order comprising Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik. Although he would not admit it, Virat Kohli too is facing similar pressure courtesy of his misfiring openers.

If Shaheen Shah Afridi broke the backbone of India’s batting with an opening spell of 3-0-19-2, India’s top 3 dug their own grave versus New Zealand. If the Men in Blue do indeed seek to get those 20 odd extra runs that their captain has been harping about while setting a target, it is imperative that the openers fly out of the blocks.

After all, scoring is easiest with just two fielders outside the inner ring, against a hard ball, on a recently-rolled pitch. Subsequently, runs start coming in the middle stages as well for batsmen can capitalise on the momentum and pressure they put on the opposition bowlers.

But on October 31 at the Dubai International Stadium, India conceded 21 dot deliveries in the 36-ball powerplay, even losing two wickets. KL Rahul (18 off 16) faced 6 dots while his new opening partner Ishan Kishan (4 off 8) hit a boundary and failed to rotate strike off the other 6 deliveries. Rohit Sharma, who likes to first see himself in before striking big, already had a grid penalty by coming in at No.3. At one stage, he was on 2 off 8 balls before eventually perishing to Ish Sodhi for a run-a-ball 14. At this stage, India were 40 for 3 with 46 balls spent.

Kohli was intertwined in a dilemma – whether to play another anchor role to take the innings deep or force the scoring bearing in mind what he stated at the toss few minutes back. He chose the latter, but fell to one of his two weaknesses, leg-spin – the other being left-arm seam – for a paltry 17-ball 9. With 4 wickets down for 48, it was no surprise India huffed and puffed to 110 for 7.

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“If you can’t change the man, change the man”

Venkatesh Iyer finished his debut IPL season with 370 runs at an impressive average of 41.11 [Credits: IPL]

After KKR suffered their fifth defeat of IPL 2021 in their last match before the season indefinitely got postponed, an apparently frustrated Brendon McCullum uttered these very words at the post-match media conference: “If you can’t change the man, change the man”.

The legendary Kiwi batter was hinting at the fear of failure in his batting line-up, putting more emphasis on his openers. Guess what? Back after a four-and-a-half month break, McCullum indeed changed personnel at the top of the order. In walked a debutant, a lesser-known Venkatesh Iyer, to open the batting with Shubman Gill. Nitish Rana was dropped down the order, and was largely used as a floater.

And it was the start of one of the most fascinating comebacks in the competition’s history.

Iyer’s fearlessness and ball-striking was exactly the tonic KKR needed and McCullum always wanted. In his maiden season, the 26-year-old aggregated 370 runs at an impressive average and a strike-rate (SR) of 41.11 and 128.47 respectively. The scoring-rate wasn’t otherworldly, but the consistency and momentum helped Gill recover his flagging season too. The Punjab lad had his best IPL campaign, with 478 runs under his belt, 346 of those coming in the second half.

A lowdown on the numbers would provide a better idea of the kind of impact the duo had on KKR’s performance. Both Iyer and Gill boasted a strike-rate above 134 in 5 of the 10 matches played. However, both of them together maintained that rate in just 2 of the games. But here is the catch.

Except for just one match against the Delhi Capitals (DC), both of them did not consume more balls than runs scored in the same match. So well did they complement each other that their average SR was above 115 in 8 matches played, with the number surging above 135 on 4 of those occasions.

The matches versus the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) were the case in point. Against MI, Gill was out for 13 off 9, but Iyer went on to notch up his maiden IPL fifty – an exhilarating 53 off 30. Then in the SRH clash, Iyer went cheaply for a 14-ball 8, but Gill carried on to see his side home with 57 off 50.

The point to be noted here is that both the openers had just one aim while walking out to bat: go all guns blazing from the word go and not worry about getting out. And indeed, they practised what they preached. If one of them got out, the other slowed down a little for the incoming batsman to play himself in. But what KKR managed to accomplish without fail was to maximise the powerplay and set a solid platform. And that becomes extremely crucial when playing on the flaccid UAE strips.

Most importantly, Brendon McCullum came out in public and announced that the players are bound to fail while trying to go about the risk-strewn modus operandi, thus instilling that belief and fearless approach in his protégés. And sure they failed.

Interestingly, the only two games KKR lost in the second half of the league stage saw the opening alliance falter before 20 – 10 vs CSK and 18 vs PBKS. And even in those two matches, their average SRs were 150 and 118.36 respectively. But they didn’t consider tweaking their approach even once. For the record, KKR batted second in 7 of the 10 games, with their two losses having come batting first.

In addition to a potent bowling attack, their openers (read the aggressive approach come what may) masked the fact that their next-best aggregate in the UAE phase was of Rahul Tripathi – 210 runs. Now, 210 won’t hit you in the face, especially when he played 10 matches – that is an average of 21.10. But the fact that Tripathi significantly improved his SR – from 135 at the halfway mark to finish with 140 – counted for a lot more in terms of contributing to the team’s cause.

Of course, some of it was due to the openers’ momentum rubbing off on the other batters. This also made Andre Russell – their best powerhitter – missing 7 consecutive matches and captain Eoin Morgan averaging just 11.08 both seem like trifling matters.

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India need to take a leaf out Brendon McCullum’s notepad

Jasprit Bumrah has accounted for both wickets that India have taken in the tournament so far [Credits: BCCI]

Like KKR, India has now got nothing to lose. After the twin defeats against the other two heavyweights in Group 2, Virat Kohli and Co. no longer have destiny in their own hands. While they can still make the semi-finals if other results go their way, a loss tonight against second-placed Afghanistan would confirm their elimination.

Inspired and influenced by Brendon McCullum and the management, the KKR players chose to detach themselves from the result. They chalked out a plan and simply decided to back it.

Many experts are exhorting the Indian stars to just go out and express themselves. Indeed, they should not worry about qualification and instead live the journey. Or, like Virat Kohli likes to term it, "enjoy the process."

Looking at it from the perspective of McCullum, who got Venkatesh Iyer to provide the firepower at the top, making Ishan Kishan open the batting was a step in the right direction. After all, he did have scores of 50*(25) and 84(32) opening the innings for the Mumbai Indians in the final two games of the season. However, it must be noted that he did so while walking out with Rohit Sharma. So the Indian team management has to take a call on that front.

Virat Kohli, like Rohit Sharma, takes time to get going. So while keeping Kohli stationary at the No.3 spot, KL Rahul can be deployed in the role which Nitish Rana played to perfection. A blend of caution and aggression, Rahul can both drop anchor and switch gears with ease if and when the situation demands.

As far as the bowling is concerned, with all the talk around dropping Varun Chakravarthy for Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli needs to show faith in his troops by not altering the combination. After all, the bowlers had nothing really to play with in the two games so far.

All these permutations and combinations, though, will be put to bed if the openers race out of the blocks, or at least try to do so. If one of them manages to clear the infield a couple of times in the powerplay, batting will invariably get easier, not just for him but for all others that come after him. After all, what the team is desperately lacking is momentum. And if India get to bat second in any of the games, things will simply play into the hands of some of the world's best chasers.

Be it the lacklustre batting, the listless bowling, the lackadaisical fielding, or the qualification scenarios – things will fall into place for Team India.