IPL 2020: Why RCB should start Josh Philippe instead of Parthiv Patel as wicketkeeper

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin from the 19th of September in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one of the major talking points like every year will be whether the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will break their title duck this season. With the likes of Virat Kohli, Josh Philippe and AB De Villiers in the ranks, RCB is always one of the most talked teams about during the lucrative league. The franchise has underachieved perennially despite the presence of big headliners since the inauguration of the league. In spite of that, what haunted RCB in the majority of the seasons was that they were void of a strong core in the squad.

This year though the story is different. The squad is stacked with Indian players like Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, and Shivam Dubey in the team along with AB De Villiers, Chris Morris and the captain himself.

One of the best buys of the team at the auction was that of Josh Philippe. According to many, the 23 year old will be benched because of the myriad of better options available to fill in the overseas slots.

But as important as it is to play the best foreign players, it must also be kept in mind that the slots are decided by looking at the right combination of Indian and overseas players available in the squad.

It can be said that it will be a toss-up between Parthiv Patel and Josh Philippe for the wicketkeeping slot and I try to justify how the Australian will be a better option.

Josh Philippe is perhaps the best wicketkeeping option available to RCB, which could be contrary to the popular perception that Parthiv Patel will be included in the the playing XI.

Parthiv's unimpressive post-powerplay numbers

From a layman’s perspective, Parthiv Patel was impressive in the IPL 2019 tournament with 373 runs in 14 innings at an average of 26 striking at 139. But 265 out of the 373 runs came in the powerplay and his strike rate dropped to 125 while he averaged just 15 post the first 6 overs.

Philippe's better record since 2018

However, Josh Philippe has had better numbers than his Indian counterpart in recent times. Since 2018, Parthiv Patel has scored more runs than Josh Philippe in T20s,though he has played 7 more innings well. Josh Philippe is better on the parameters of average and strike rate and hence has a significantly superior BASRA (Batting average + Strike Rate Aggregate).

BBL - Sydney Sixers v Perth Scorchers

Flexibility with batting position

If RCB decides to play Parthiv Patel, he locks one of the opening slots but the same may not be the case with Josh Philippe as the Sydney Sixers batsman has batted in the middle order (No. 3 to No. 7) in 9 out of 20 innings since the beginning of 2018. Also, this gives them a chance to try Moeen Ali, Aaron Finch or even Devdutt Paddikal as an opener alongside captain Kohli.

An opportunity for young Devdutt

As mentioned, Josh Philippe’s inclusion in the XI may also lead to Devdutt Paddikal’s IPL debut, as Philippe takes the gloves and RCB will have the opportunity to play a batsman. The Karnataka batsman scored 400 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 2019 and was the 2nd highest run scorer of that edition, with an average of 50 and a strike rate of 171. Although Devdutt Paddikal has some shortcomings against high quality pace, he may well be a valuable option in the middle overs. With this year’s IPL to be held in the UAE where the tracks are spin friendly, Paddikal can be used as an option to attack against spinners. Josh Philippe's inclusion in the squad might benefit others.

RCB Management's praise

Mike Hesson, the newly appointed team directed of the franchise, termed Josh Philippe as an excellent machine post the auction and revealed that it was a surprise to get him at his base price. "We never thought we'd get him at 20 lakh," Hesson said.

Considering the overseas players in the squad, it will be difficult for Josh Philippe to start, but if he does, RCB are surely going to benefit from the move.