“Somewhere long back I'd said that in a team sport only those runs should be counted in which a team has won and only those runs should go to your account. The runs that you've scored but your team hasn't won should not be counted. People say what does he talk and I completely believe in this—only those runs should matter and go into your record,” former India opener Gautam Gambhir told this writer in his last interview before retiring from international cricket.
It is a rather radical view and more so for a format like the Indian Premier League (IPL). But it won’t come as a surprise if teams take to this view as more players give the impression that the personal scores are more important than the team runs. It won’t be fair to view Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul through this prism. Along with the captain’s hat, Rahul also wears the “Orange Cap” as the leading run-scorer of IPL 2020—313 runs in six innings at an average of 62.60 and a strike rate of 136.68.
The fact also is that his team lies at the bottom of the points table, having won only one of its six games, one reason his scoring is under the scanner.
Also read: IPL 2020 Match Preview KXIP vs KKR | Punjab have ‘everything to lose’, Kolkata a lot to gain
The strike rate issue
Rahul’s strike rate (113.3) in the powerplays and then in the middle overs seems to have done more harm than good for his team. It was a surprise then when Rahul dismissed offhand concerns about his hitting ability in early overs.
“Strike rates are very, very overrated,” Rahul said in the post-match presser after losing the last match. “For me, it's only about how I can win games for my team. And if on a certain day I think a strike-rate of 120 can win the game for my team, I will do that. This is how I bat and I would like to take responsibility as a leader. We all make mistakes, I’m not saying I have not made a few mistakes but you learn each day as a leader, as a batter,” the KXIP captain said.
Head coach Anil Kumble knows very well the pitfalls of showing the mirror to star captains. Still, it would not have skipped the team management’s attention that Rahul’s strike rate during powerplay overs is just a shade better than Shubman Gill’s (112) among batsmen who have scored at least 50 runs in the first six overs. Of course, the openers may have been asked to play a specific role for the team.
“It's a partnership. When we are out in the middle as a batting group, every player has a role in the team and those roles can change in the middle with each game so I try to do the best I can for the team, try and assess the situation and play according to that. For me at the end of the day, I need to walk out of the ground knowing that I’ve tried to win the game,” Rahul said.
Is this the right approach?
Rahul’s breakthrough season in 2018 was special because not only was he the third-highest run-getter (659 runs) but also the third-most aggressive, with a strike rate of 158.41 if the criterion of minimum 400 runs was applied. Since 2019, Rahul has been the leading run-scorer of IPL, averaging 60 but his relatively poorer strike rate of 137 may not put “fear in opponents”.
Learn from the Wall
Rahul’s childhood idol, Rahul Dravid, was dropped from the Indian ODI team because of his strike rate. So much so that the then captain Sourav Ganguly convinced Dravid to keep wickets to be part of the squad. Unlike Dravid, Rahul has chosen the additional duty of wicket-keeping to give his team more options and that is indeed laudable and an unselfish move.
Rohit does the same
Some critics may argue that India’s white-ball legendary opener Rohit Sharma also follows a similar template for Team India and the Mumbai Indians.
They should, however, remember that Rohit can afford to bat in the third gear and if he gets out in the middle of the innings, his scoring rate will not weigh heavy on the team as they have Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya to see them through the death overs. The two invariably bat in the six-th gear.
Rahul doesn’t have that luxury. He has got a perennial underperformer like Glenn Maxwell, who is yet to get 50 runs in six innings so far.
Time to rethink before it is too late?
(Vimal Kumar is a senior sports journalist who has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. Vimal is also the author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide.)
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