KKR ponder batting Russell higher up the order Cricbuzz.com

It has been a really weird IPL till now, Teams literally lost the matches because of the really weird decision made by team managements which doesn't even make sense to normal cricket fans, some of them are outrageous and frustrating to watch...what do you think is the most brain dead of all?

1. KKR not bowling Ferguson after he took 5 wickets in the last game when they needed to defend 82 runs.

2.punjab sending newbie prabsimran instead of maxwell.

1. RCB sending ABD at no.6

4.CSK persisting with kj.
5.punjab persisting with maxwell inspite of his lack of game awareness.
6.KKR'S batting order.
7.RR'S unsettled batting order after 10 freaking games..
8.punjab sending pooran in the 1st superover instead of gayle against Mumbai.
9.Smith giving 19th over to unadkath instead of archer against RCB.

1. CSK not even trying Imran tahir atleast in one match till now.

Feel free to add what you feel is brain dead stuff happened in IPL 2020.

Matthew Wade is a 33 and plays all formats of the game. He is a phenomenal white ball player but we can all agree that he sucks in the long format of the game. But with Pat Cummins, we have a potential middle-order batsman who scores 50 in the IPL, a handy pacer and a right-handed batsman which Australia doesn't have aplenty. We all know what happened to a handy leg-spinner went to bat higher the order.
Even his strokeplay and innings in Australia was a treat to watch. By pairing two young players Pat Cummins and Cameron Green, we can have the batting and bowling all-rounder combination in the middle order slot and lay the foundation for the future of the test side. Even if the combination fails we can have the depth as we can have an extra batsman down the order. I know few might say Spotify Henriques but age is not on his side.
Even in this second innings, given the strength of Green's potential to play aggressive, Gabba should be courageous and take a gamble to send Cummins at no.5 and keep himself further down the order. It is not new as Cummins occasionally scores a quickfire 50 for KKR at IPL. With Green and Pat, Australia can do a Huss-Clarke combination over again even if given a target in excess of 400+.

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I swear I was going to make this post before KKR’s second game, since a lot of DK’s tactics in first game were puzzling. Since then he has not performed well and his team has been showing up with middling performances. It feels like I am piling on his poor form, and he might as well make a nice 70 odd and prove his critiques wrong, but that doesn’t take me away from the larger question.
He is captaining a franchise with one of the better records and a passionate fanbase. Someone like Gambhir fit that franchise perfectly. He was a cricketer with excellent LOI and very good test record for India- a fixture in the team for good 6-7 years at least.
If you look at captains of other franchises -Kohli, Rohit, Dhoni, Rahul, even the ones who had a stint or newer ones like Rahane, Ashwin, Iyer - they were all part of India’s international team setup or a young talent with lot of potential (Iyer). DK doesn’t fit any of those. He was neither young nor a fixture in Indian international setup for a lengthy period of time. So what is it about his track record that makes people rate him so highly? He used to be admired widely on this sub as well.
His international record is below average - Test avg of 25, ODI avg of 30 at 73, T20I avg is good at 33 at 143, but has only 399 runs. T20 avg is 27 at 132.
His captaincy has left a lot to be desired as well. The bizarre batting order this year, with Morgan being force to play a finisher role and he himself batting at 3, when his most success has been at 5-6 was strange. Last year that was a public fallout with Russell, which didn’t reflect highly on his man management skills.

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and chose to field first
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 37 runs
Man of the Match: Shivam Mavi (2 wickets for 20 runs)
Summary:
Kolkata Knight Riders 174-6 (20 overs)
Gill 47 (34)
Morgan 34 (23)
Archer 4-0-18-2
Unadkat 2-0-14-1
​
Rajasthan Royals 137-9 (20 overs)
Curran 54 (36)
Buttler 21 (16)
Mavi 4-0-20-2
Nagarkoti 2-0-13-2
​
Mavi, Player of the Match: When I started bowling, it was seaming. So I thought I'll stick to normal lines and lengths. Before the game we thought it would be flatter. So I just stuck to a length. Have played against these big stars before, but I knew it wasn't coming onto the bat.
Karthik, Winning captain: Wouldn't call it a perfect game. Lot of areas we need to improve. The way Gill batted, Mavi bowled, Russell batted. Also the youngsters going after the high catches. Archer bowled really well. Wasn't that easy a wicket to bat on. Couple of guys made it look better than it was. These boys, the journey they've been through when they're not playing, is a hard one. Putting runs on the board is what we thought was the best way to go forward on this ground.
Smith, Losing captain: Didn't quite go to plan. That happens in T20 cricket sometimes, we have a few areas to improve on, and keep moving forward. You could go one way or another (with the toss). KKR like to chase, so we planned to put their death bowling under pressure but obviously couldn't do that as we lost too many wickets upfront. Few of us still thought we were playing in Sharjah. It did (feel a lot different), the far side is a very big side and we didn't see too many balls going there and the other side is slightly shorter. We probably didn't adapt to the dimensions and the wicket, also dropped a few catches which cost us. It is about forming whatever XI is best for the conditions we are facing, we will wait and see. Disappointing tonight but we need to keep moving forward. It wasn't a great battle (with Cummins), he won easily and spoke to him now and he said you smack those in the nets, sometimes you just get a good one.

RCB in most probability can buy either of Maxwell or Smith or maybe both. Here is the reason:

• MI: The main 3 Overseas players of MI are de Kock, Boult, Pollard. 4th one is likely to be a fast bowler since they released 3 Overseas pacers. Also their lineup consists of Rohit, QdK, Kishan, Sky, Polly, Hardik and Krunal. There is no place for Maxi and Smith. So here the probability of buying Smith or Maxwell is less than 10%.
• KKR: The KKR Overseas players are likely to be Morgan, Russell, Narine / Ferguson, Cummins. So Maxwell and Smith are too good to be benched. Plus here also no place in the lineup since it consists of Gill, Tripathi, Russell, Morgan, Rana, Cummins. Hence here also the probability of buying them is low.
• SRH: The main SRH Overseas players would be Warner, Kane, Rashid and Bairstow / Holder. Plus don't have enough budget. No place here as well.
• RR: Rajasthan Overseas players are likely to be Buttler, Stokes, Archer. The 4th one is likely to be a fast bowler since they want one who can compliment Archer. Plus RR are unlikely to buy Smith back. Hence here the probability of buying Maxwell are low whereas that of buying Smith is close to nil.
• KXIP: Their 4 foreigners are likely to be Gayle, Pooran and Jordan. Also having released Maxwell, they are unlikely to buy him back. However they can buy Smith as he can play at 4. Therefore the probability of buying Maxwell is close to nil whereas that of buying Smith is high. But I feel they will go for Malan and Jhye Richarson. That is a possibility.
• DC: DC will have their 4 foreigners in Stoinis, Hetmyer, Nortje and Rabada. They might not buy Maxwell or Smith. Plus their top order consists of Shaw, Dhawan and Iyer followed by Pant, Stoinis and Hetmyer. So no place for both. Also their budget of 9 Cr won't allow it.
• CSK: CSK Foreigners are likely to be Faf, Curran, Tahir and Hazlewood. Plus their batting order is also pretty tight. It consists of Faf, Gaikwad, Raina, Dhoni, Rayudu, Jadeja, Curran. No place for Maxwell and Smith here as well. Hence here also the probability of buying Maxwell is low but they can buy Smith since they are in a dire need of Dhoni's successor. So Smith cuts the bill here. But I feel they will mostly go for an opener like Finch, Roy, Hales etc. to fill the void left by Watson.

Hence as far as Maxwell is concerned, I feel only RCB can take him whereas Smith can find buyers in CSK and KXIP. What is your opinion on it. Tell me in the comments below.
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Any Reason why nobody says anything about DK when KKR win a game but blame him and even want him to be removed from captaincy by a loss
I mean he ain’t doing too great with the bat and has made a few bad decisions but I mean he still has done good by encouraging Varun CV and even holding back Narine for the last 10 knowing CSK have struggled against him
And it’s not like he’s alone making decisions,I’m pretty sure most of the input is coming from Baz and even some from Morgan
But definitely he’s got to get back to his form tho xD

I was looking through team squads and noticed some conspicuous expensive buys not making the first eleven and some base price steals who are regulars in their squad (TLDR at the end):
Mumbai Indians: Most recent squad:

Player	Price(cr)
Rohit Sharma	15
QdK	2.8
Surykumar Yadav	3.2
Ishan Kishan	6.2
Hardik Pandya	11
Krunal Pandya	8.8
Keiron Pollard	5.4
J Pattinson	1
Rahul Chahar	1.9
Trent Boult	2.2
Jaspreet Bumrah	7

Total = 64.5 cr Variance = 18.94 Notable sit-outs: Sherfane Rutherford (2cr), Chris Lynn (2cr), Mitchell Mclenahan (1cr)
Delhi Capitals Most recent squad:

Player	Price
PP Shaw	1.2
Shikar Dhawan	5.2
Shreyas Iyer	7
AM Rahane	4
Marcus Stoinis	4.8
Alex Carey	2.4
Axar Patel	5
R Ashwin	7.6
Harshal Patel	0.2
K Rabada	4.2
A Nokia	0.5

Total = 42.1 cr Variance = 6.18 Notable sit-outs: No-one! (Everyone worth >= 1cr has got a game!)
Royal Challengers Bangalore Most Recent Squad:

Player	Price
Devdutt Padikkal	0.2
Aron Finch	1
Virat Kohli	17
AB de Villiers	11
Shivam Dube	5
Washington Sundar	3.2
Chris Morris	10
Isuru Udana	0.5
Mohamed Siraj	2.6
Navdeep Saini	3
Yuzi Chahal	6

Total = 59.5 cr Variance = 27.64 Notable Sit-outs: Parthiv Patel (1.7cr), Pawan Negi (1cr)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Most Recent Squad:

Player	Price
Shibman Gill	1.8
Tom Banton	1
Nitish Rana	3.4
Eoin Morgan	5.25
Dinesh Karthik	7.4
Andre Russel	7
Rahul Tripathi	0.6
Pat Cummins	15.5
Kamalesh Nagarkoti	3.2
Prasiddh Krishna	0.2
Varun Chakravarti	4

Total = 49.35 cr Variance = 19.26 Notable Sit-outs: Lockie Ferguson (1.6cr) Also, Pat Cummins is over twice as expensive as the captain! ** The top 4 is worth a measly 11.45 as compared to RR's 37cr**
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Most Recent Squad:

Player	Price
David Warner	12
Jonny Bairstow	2.2
Manish Pandey	11
Kane Williamson	3
Priyam Garg	1.9
Vijay Shankar	3.2
Abhishek Sharma	0.55
Rashid Khan	9
Sandeep Sharma	3
Khalil Ahmed	3
T Natranjan	0.4

Total = 49.25 cr Variance = 17.16 Notable Sitouts: Virat Singh(1.9cr), Wriddhiman Saha (1.2cr), Sreevats Goswami (1cr), Mohamed Nabi(1cr)
Rajasthan Royals Most Recent Squad:

Player	Price
Jos Buttler	4.4
Ben Stokes	12.5
Steve Smith	12.5
Sanju Samson	8
Rahul Tewatia	3
Riyan Parag	0.2
Jofra Archer	7.2
Robin Uthapa	3
Shreyas Gopal	0.2
Jaidev Unadakat	3
Kartik Tyagi	1.3

Total = 55.3cr Variance = 19.85 Notable Sitouts: No one! ** The top 4 is worth 37cr which blows RCB's 29.2 cr out of the water!**
Chennai Super Kings Most recent squad:

Player	Price
Shane Watson	4
Faf du Plessis	1.6
Ambati Rayudu	2.2
MS Dhoni	15
Ravindra Jadeja	7
Sam Curran	5.5
N Jagadeesan	0.2
DJ Bravo	6.4
Deepak Chahar	0.8
Shardul Thakur	2.6
Karn Sharma	5

Total = 50.3cr Variance = 17.10 Notable Sitouts: Imran Tahir(1cr)
KXIP Most recent squad:

Player	Price
KL Rahul	11
Mayank Agarwal	1
Nicolas Pooran	4.2
Prabsimran Singh	0.55
Glenn Maxwell	10.75
Mandeep Singh	1.4
Chris Jordan	3
Ravi Bishnoi	2
Mohamed Shami	4.8
Arshdeep Singh	0.2
Mujeeb ur Rahman	4

Total = 42.9 Variance = 14.22
Notable Sitouts: Chris Gayle :( [2cr], KKK Nair (5.6cr)
TLDR: 1. Delhi == USSR: Very cheap, low income inequality 2. Delhi could buy a Kohli and still be cheaper than Mumbai 3. Mumbai's squad is entirely comprised of crorepatis (wouldn't expect anything less from motabhai's team) 4. RCB running a sweatshop paying DDP 0.2 cr and Udana 0.5 cr. 5. ABD + Kohli = 47% of RCB's squad net worth 6. KXIP, pliss play Gayle.

Yesterday's match between SRH and KKR had me wondering what is it that the SRH batting line-up lacks. Some said Manish Pandey isn't capable of finishing the innings, that he lacks the firepower - and they're right. Pandey, after all, is an accumulator with a SR of a shade above 120, someone like Gambhir, if you will.
That let me to think about batting roles, and by extension, the way batsmen are categorized based on their specific responsibility within the team. And maybe that's the way we should look at the Dhoni situation as well, he's not a Big-Hitting Finisher, maybe he's a floating finisher. These are examples of the categories I've introduced below, which eventually led me to lists of similar batsmen that can be grouped together as they play similar roles. Let us see how the batsmen have fared over the years when lumped together with batsmen of similar type:
Classical Batsmen: Class A

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
S. Tendulkar	78	2334	34.83	119.81
M. Hussey	58	1977	38.76	122.64
M. Jayawardane	78	1802	28.60	123.25
S. Badrinath	67	1441	30.65	118.89

The last classical batsman to appear in the IPL was M. Hussey, who retired in 2015. These are all players proficient at Test cricket, and it remained to be seen how they'd go in the brand new format. It's obvious that T20 isn't the format best suited to their game, but the above players adapted better than what was expected from them. These are similar to Accumulators (read below) in the sense of how they go about their innings.
Tendulkar and Hussey fared well with their numbers. CSK fans would also remember the vital role Badrinath played in the event of a collapse in the early years. Mahela has a century to his name along with 10 fifties to go with that.
Classical Batsmen: Class B

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
J. Kallis	96	2427	28.55	109.23
R. Dravid	82	2174	28.23	115.51
K. Sangakkara	68	1687	25.95	121.19
S. Ganguly	56	1349	25.45	106.81

The above players weren't as successful as their Class A peers. Sangakkara's numbers are fairly ordinary and Ganguly and Kallis just didn't have the striking ability even to go at 120. Interestingly, Dravid was a superior batsman compared to Kallis and Ganguly.
x-x-x
Stars of their XI: Indians

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
V. Kohli	171	5427	37.42	131.40
S. Raina	189	5368	33.34	137.11
R. Sharma	185	4990	31.78	131.03
KL Rahul	60	2130	44.37	140.22
S. Gill	26	576	36.00	128.00

These are the key players for the teams they represent. They generally play at the top and are capable batting at multiple positions between 1 and 4, and are versatile enough to play multiple roles for the team - arresting a collapse batting 1st, providing an impetus with their hitting at 160+, batting cautiously to take their team home in a sub-160 chase, or even going hell for leather in a 200 plus chase. Some may raise their eyebrows at seeing Gill, but that's the role he played for KKR yesterday.
Stars of their XI: Overseas

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
S. Marsh	69	2477	39.95	132.74
S. Smith	73	2091	38.01	129.47
K. Williamson	41	1302	38.29	135.06
K. Pietersen	36	1001	37.07	134.72
H. Amla	16	577	44.38	141.76

These are the overseas stars of their respective teams that play the same multifaceted role that someone like a Kohli or a Raina does. A lot of these names are underrated IPL names, but they've got the class all the same. All of these players average in excess of 37 and strike at 130-14. The high SR means these aren't merely accumulators. Babar Azam would appear here if he were an IPL player. Also, look at Amla's numbers there and tell me why exactly is it that he wasn't picked again?
x-x-x
Destructive Openers: Class A

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
D. Warner	128	4748	42.77	142.11
C. Gayle	124	4484	41.13	151.02
S. Watson	133	3626	30.72	139.24
V. Sehwag	104	2728	27.55	155.44
C. Lynn	41	1280	33.68	140.65
M. Hayden	32	1107	36.90	137.52
J. Bairstow	12	511	51.10	152.08

These are openers playing a specialized, big-hitting role like Gayle and Sehwag. While some tend to be freakishly consistent (Warner, Gayle), but almost all of them will do you serious damage if they last out the power-play. To determine which class I should place each batsman in, I factored in their avg and their SR.
Destructive Openers: Class B

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
B. McCullum	109	2880	27.69	131.75
A. Gilchrist	80	2069	27.22	138.39
A. Finch	75	1786	26.66	129.70
Q de Kock	52	1490	29.80	131.62
S. Jayasuriya	30	768	27.43	144.36

These are fairly destructive in their own right, only not so much so as their peers placed in Class A. Some of these players haven't quite found their rhythm yet (Finch, De Kock), while others were just not consistent enough (Jayasuriya, BMac).
x-x-x
Accumulators: Class A

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
S. Dhawan	160	4614	33.19	124.77
G. Gambhir	152	4217	31.00	123.88
A. Rayudu	141	3371	29.06	126.34
JP Duminy	77	2029	39.78	124.02
S. Iyer	64	1746	30.63	126.70
B. Hodge	63	1400	33.33	125.22
L. Simmons	29	1079	39.96	126.64

These players aren't too far removed from the classical batsmen in terms of their striking ability, but unlike them, this lot has well and truly grown up in the T20 era. These players are ideal to arrest a collapse, bat on a tough pitch, see their side home in a 160 chase. But their big hitting powers are limited. Class A accumulators strike at 124+ and have a healthier average compared to their Class B peers. Duminy can also play the floating-finisher, his stats at #5 are pretty good - averages 70 and strikes at 135+.
Accumulators: Class B

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
A. Rahane	132	3820	32.93	121.02
M. Pandey	122	2928	29.57	120.79
P. Patel	137	2848	22.60	120.78
M. Vijay	106	2619	25.93	121.87
M. Tiwary	85	1695	28.72	116.97
D. Hussey	61	1322	26.98	122.98

And immediately you'd have noticed the dip in SR. The problem with this lot is their inability to accelerate, but they'd still deliver more often than not when you need to prevent a collapse. People expect Pandey to play the floating finisher, but he's clearly the accumulator. P. Patel can be excused for the poor average as he also keeps. M. Vijay has declined in the past 3 years or so, he used to be really good in the early 2010's. Lastly, RR shouldn't have released Rahane. They need Rahane and he's practically wasted in Delhi.
x-x-x
Floater-Finisher: Class A

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
MS Dhoni	173	4476	42.22	137.89
Faf du Plessis	67	2026	33.21	128.39
D. Miller	78	1850	33.63	138.78
N. Rana	43	1135	29.10	135.60
A. Symonds	36	974	36.07	129.86
M. Stoinis	27	531	33.18	136.85

You'd notice these players haven't had a settled batting position for the most part. These are essentially finishers who bat anywhere in the middle order but don't have the ability of, say, Maxwell, Pant, or Russell to strike at 180 from the get-go. And hence I'd place Dhoni here, and not in the big hitting finisher category. These players are also fairly versatile to play various roles such as aggressive finisher, collapse prevention, etc.
Floater-Finisher: Class B

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
R. Uthappa	171	4416	28.67	130.20
D. Karthik	165	3684	26.89	129.67
Yuvraj Singh	126	2750	24.77	129.71
D. Smith	89	2385	28.39	135.20
S. Samson	90	2283	28.18	132.11
W. Saha	96	1795	23.93	130.35
SK Yadav	73	1608	28.21	132.12
K. Nair	65	1480	24.66	128.69

With an increase in either their average or their SR, these players too can make it to Class A. This lot is relatively inconsistent in the role, hence nobody here has an average in excess of 30+.
x-x-x
Big-Hitting Finishers

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
AB de Villiers	174	4474	39.94	151.45
Y. Pathan	154	3204	29.12	142.97
K. Pollard	137	2786	28.72	146.78
R. Pant	56	1804	36.81	160.92
A. Russell	53	1411	32.81	185.17
G. Maxwell	70	1403	22.26	159.97
J. Buttler	45	1386	35.53	150.81

There aren't too many in IPL who have played this role consistently enough over the years. But the above collection of players have. These are some of the most exciting strikers in world cricket today. Okay, barring Yusuf Pathan.
All Rounders: Class A

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
H. Pandya	63	1100	28.20	154.27
A. Morkel	68	974	24.34	141.98
K. Pandya	50	895	25.57	145.29
C. Morris	39	517	27.21	157.62

Because these players tend to bat at 6 or below, SR becomes of greater significance. And so these players find themselves in a class of their own.
All Rounders: Class B

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
D. Bravo	102	1483	23.17	128.28
I. Pathan	82	1139	21.49	120.40
B. Stokes	33	635	22.68	132.02
J. Faulkner	45	527	21.08	135.47
T. Perera	30	422	19.18	147.45
J. Hopes	19	417	26.06	136.27

With a SR that is lacking or an average that doesn't make up for it, these are the class B players. Each of these possess the ability to change the game with the bat, but they're hardly consistent enough.
x-x-x
Wasted Potential

	Inn	Runs	Avg	SR
N. Ohja	94	1554	20.72	118.35
Mandeep Singh	84	1529	22.15	124.71
T. Dilshan	50	1153	26.81	114.50
R. Taylor	54	1017	25.43	123.72
RT Doeschate	22	326	23.28	138.72

Here's a set of players that couldn't really set the stage on fire in the IPL. Most of these are immensely talented in other formats, but even after dozens of chances, they never made it.
Let me know if there's a silly error, it took me a while to get all these numbers. *sigh*

This may be a bit of a long post, so bear with me.
3 huge issues plagued RCB this year

• The lack of a genuine enforcer with the ball. MI have Bumrah, DC have Rabada, RCB lacked someone similar
• We always had poor starts, given Finch/Philippe's indifferent form
• In the middle overs and at the back end, there was no one to help ABD out

At the same time, 3 big positives for us as well.

• Our spinners were superb, be it Yuzi, Washi, or Shahbaz. They almost did close to nothing wrong.
• Saini and Siraj have well and truly come to the fore. VK finally has realized Siraj is not your death bowler, but someone who must be bowling with the newer ball alot more
• For a long time, VK was our only good Indian batsman, with Parthiv sometimes being the exception. Padikkal has shown that he is a dependable opener, and that puts us in good stead going forward.

At the moment, we have 6.4 cr in our purse. I suggest we release the following players:

• Finch(4.4 cr)

I never actually understood the thought process behind buying him, given Parthiv was superb last year, more so given that he keeps. If not, Virat also has his best stats opening. Including Dev we already have 3 openers, so why did we need to buy another one? And this is not considering other potential openers like Moeen or Washi.

• Moeen Ali(1.7 cr)

This comes off a little iffy, but look. In his 3 matches this year, which although is a small sample size, he has looked completely out of sorts. But even more compelling is the fact that he has been in extremely poor form for England as well. I think RCB can afford to release him and look at alternate options, which I shall elaborate later.

• Dale Steyn(2 cr)

He has been nothing but a pale shadow of his glorious days. RCB should try to still keep him within the camp though, as a fast bowling mentor for our Indian quicks, who seemed to have learnt a lot from him.

• Umesh Yadav(4.2 cr)

He has been woeful bowling at any stage of the innings, something which RCB cannot be having, especially from your most experienced Indian fast bowler.

• Joshua Philippe(0.2 cr)

Again, this looks kinda iffy but there is sound logic to this. Firstly, he is an opener, of which we have many already. Moreover, the fact that he keeps doesn't really help, given Parthiv as an Indian already provides that option. Also, the commentators on air and on Cricbuzz did mention that his keeping skills are not really up to par. He just does not justify an overseas slot.

• Pawan Negi(1 cr)

He does not bat a lot for his domestic side these days(Delhi), and has diminishing returns with the ball. Quite a decent player, but I think we have a pretty good upcoming talent in Shahbaz Ahmed who plays a very similar role to Negi, but better.

• Chris Morris(10 cr)

When he has played, he has been pretty decent. He was a relief for all of us when he bowled at the death, where we often expect carnage from opposition batsmen. However, his batting has gone quite downhill, and he seems to get injured very often these days. South Africa too do not select him these days in their LOI squads. Hence, Morris certainly does not justify his high price tag of 10cr, which is why I call for his release.

• Gurkeerat Mann Singh(0.5 cr)

He was supposed to our Indian middle order batsmen, somewhat similar to Ishan Kishan of MI, who would shepherd through the middle overs for us safely and then go all guns blazing at the death. He has been woefully underpar this season and struggled to find the boundary to save his life. Surely RCB can look for better domestic middle order batsmen.
Releasing these players gives us a solid purse of 30.4 cr.
So who should RCB target next auction? For the following list, I am only mentioning the names of players who are not in any IPL team at the moment. This list would certainly update itself closer to the auction.

• Dawid Malan

We really need someone to bat through the middle overs, where we have struggled to maintain a good run rate continuously. Malan is a certainly the guy who could do it for RCB.

• Heinrich Klaasen

He is a guy who could bat along with ABD towards the death and find boundaries easily. He is quite a destructive finisher with a few innovative shots up his sleeve, so certainly I feel RCB should get their guy back. More importantly though, this guy keeps, which puts ABD back on the field like we all want to see. A suitable alternative for him could be Sam Billings who was decent for CSK, but I prefer Klaasen as he is a bit more consistent and has been with RCB before.

• Mitchell Starc

We need a fast bowler who people are genuinely afraid of. Someone who also can bowl at the death after we have released Morris. Given Starc has also played for RCB before, I feel he would fit right in. This is of course on the assumption that he plays next year. If not for him, RCB would have to look for another gun quick like him. Perhaps look at some other guy like Adam Milne, Chris Woakes, Junior Dala or even Liam Plunkett for his experience.

• Shakib al Hasan

Again, he is a superb middle order player, and can be a fantastic third spinner for RCB after Chahal and Washi. He could also take somewhat of a leadership role along with VK and ABD. He could be somewhat of our Kanos in our non firing middle order. If in fact we are unable to buy him, there are 3 left field options RCB could opt for, being Dhananjaya de Silva from Sri Lanka, or Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza from Zimbabwe.

• A decent backup Indian quick - Sushant Mishra

Every team is unearthing a fast bowling talent, for RR it is Tyagi, for MI it is Bumrah, for KKR it has been Nagarkoti and Mavi. I feel RCB could get Sushant Mishra, an U19 left arm quick, who bowls near 140 kph. Could certainly be really handy. Obviously there are other options out there, which aren't as popular and mainstream which perhaps the RCB scouts could find, but you get the idea. A left field option could perhaps me Ganesh Periyasamy from the TNPL. Dude apparently bowls with an action like Malinga's and took a 5 for in the final. It would be beautiful to see RCB destroy MI and CSK with a Tamil Malinga.

• Harpreet Singh and Rohan Kadam

These two guys play regularly in the middle order for their SMAT teams, Chattisgarh and Karnataka respectively. They do so very well and have very respectable stats. I think RCB should certainly look to purchase them, which could give them some Indian options for their middle order. Rohan also adds some Kannada identity to this RCB team. Harpreet was one of the highest scorers in the SMAT, and is Chattisgarh's captain, which is an added bonus.

• An overseas fast bowling all rounder

Instead of shelling 10 cr to Morris, RCB could certainly snag alternatives at the auction for a much lower price. The following are possible alternatives: Andile, Dwaine Pretorius, and Mitchell Marsh. There are probably a few others out there, but they are just missing my mind at the moment. RCB could also just try to get back Morris if possible, but at a lower price. That would be smart though, something which our franchise isn't well known for at the auctions.
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Of course, these are just names who are not in any IPL team thus far. With other franchises releasing some of their players, this list could certainly wear a fresher look. Moreover, there are other minor areas RCB could cover, like getting a replacement for guys like Chahal, but I do believe I have covered the more prominent issues here. Assuming the above happens, the following would be our best XI:

1. Kohli(c)
2. Padikkal
3. Dawid Malan
4. Heinrich Klaasen(wk)
5. AB de Villiers
6. Shivam Dube
7. Washington Sundar
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Saini
10. Siraj
11. Chahal

Important things to note about the above XI:

• Kohli should open. His best season was when he opened, and it should stay that way. Just stick to it for another season. Moreover, he would be opening with Padikkal, his mentee this season.
• Malan and Klaasen are tasked with guiding RCB through our middle overs. Malan should play the role Raina has played for CSK. Klaasen's role is more of playing an important role in finishing the innings along with AB de Villiers. There is an inherent element of risk in this, in that either of these guys, who do not have much experience in the IPL, may not perform well. Shakib can then be brought into replace either of them. Preferably Malan, as Klaasen keeps.
• ABD is batting 5. Yes, I know. I feel that 4 is too high for him, and he should be playing the role Pollard plays for MI, which is to just give massive impetus at the back end. RCB's 2 best batsmen are Kohli and ABD. And for that reason, they should not be batting together as much, because when 1 of them get out, the other get out soon after. They should be spaced out nicely so that RCB are never overly dependent on either of them. To compare this with MI, their best batsmen are Rohit and Pollard, yet they very rarely bat together. At the most, Klaasen goes 5, ABD goes 4, but really not any higher.
• The bowling attack is predominantly Indian, with our one overseas bowler, Starc being our X factor. Hence, it is imperative that RCB do go all out for their overseas quick.

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These are just my personal thoughts, and this took very long to type :). Please do state your comments below, thanks!

When RCB management made bad auction decisions and let Rahul and Gayle go to KXIP, RCB's batting strength was duo of ABD and Kohli with bunch of inexperienced batsmen. Getting Kohli and ABD together meant winning the match for oppositions. A pattern started emerging where both of them got out frequently to release the pressure against spinners in the middle overs. They were equally bad against googlies in 2018 and 2019 season. Kohli averaged 6 against googlies with SR of 104.35 (4 dismissals). ABD fared worse with average of 5.2 at 83.87 SR (5 dismissals). Following are some matches where both of them got out together and team lost momentum -
IPL 2018 3rd Match - RCB vs KKR - RCB were cruising hard on 127 for 2 after 14.1 overs. ABD had just hit previous ball for a six but trying to slog another one, he hit the next one straight to fielder. Kohli followed him to pavilion next ball. This was first IPL match after both KL & Gayle left. RCB could only score 50 more runs in 5.3 overs and KKR chased the target with 7 balls left in batting paradise.
IPL 2018 35th Match - RCB vs CSK - RCB were 47 for 1 after 6 overs with Kohli struggling to middle the ball. Dhoni introduced Jadeja into the attack and Kohli fell first ball trying to pound on arm ball. ABD replaces him and faces two dot balls in the same over. Spin is introduced from the othe end and ABD gives a simple catch to Dhoni off Bhajji after failing to hit a reverse sweep. RCB could only reach 127 after 20 overs with the help of Tim Southee's 36 off 26 at the end. They never recovered from Kohli and AB's back to back dismissals. CSK won the match easily.
IPL 2018 39th Match - RCB vs SRH - RCB were 71/2 after 9 overs chasing 146. Target was looking easy at that stage but Rashid's latest over saw Kohli getting dropped in slips and ABD missing a wild swing. Sakib was re-introduced to capitalise on that and he delivered by sending Kohli off in same over. Part 1 of Job was done. Rashid unleashed back to back googlies (ABD's kryptonite) in next over and ABD was also taken care of. RCB needed 67 of 56 deliveries at that stage but they failed in a spectacular fashion (At one point they just needed 19 off 2 overs with 5 wickets in hand and 2 settled batsmen in the middle).
IPL 2019 14th Match - RCB vs RR - RCB were 48 for 0 after Powerplay. Leggie Gowtham was making sure Kohli doesn't rotate strike much and waste balls by denying Parthiv strike who was striking at nearly 170 in first 6 overs. When field opened, Kohli tried to jab first ball through point for single but he misread Gopal's googly. He got out very next ball (bowled), trying to play the googly through covers. ABD replaced him and Gopal bowled 3 more googlies. ABD wasn't able to read the ball so like a tailender in test match, he realised best form of defence is attack. Gopal came back with 3 more googlies in next over and mistimed the shot every single time and gave a simple return catch to bowler. When he got out, RCB were 71 for 2 after 8.3 overs. They only added 87 more runs in 69 balls and lost the match as expected.
IPL 2019 49th Match - RCB vs RR - It was just a 5 over run curtailed fixture. Kohli and ABD opened the innings and scored 23 runs in first over. Gopal was sent in to control the duo but Kohli had realised googly barrage was coming. He scored 12 off first 3 deliveries none of which were classic leg breaks. Kohli expected another googly but it was a classic leg break and he is caught near boundary. Gopal learned from his mistake and bowled leg break to ABD also as he gave a simple catch to Parag. Gopal completed his hat trick next ball. RCB scored 35 off first 9 deliveries and 27 off next 21 with 7 wickets lost. 62 was enough to make sure RCB wins but some teams had realised Kohli and ABD can be kept in check through quality spin bowling.
IPL 2020 6th Match - KXIP vs RCB - RCB were reeling in at 11 for 3 after 4 overs. ABD started attacking pacers from the start so KXIP brought in Bishnoi for 6th over. ABD attacked his bad length by smoking him for 3 fours in an over. KXIP didn't back down and brought in Murugan Ashwin from other end. Although he didn't get any wickets that over, he troubled both Finch and ABD with mix of leggies and googlies. Finch got out in Bishnoi's next over, failing to read his first googly of the day. Ashwin set up a trap for ABD by setting field for a googly and bowling leg spin. ABD survived first ball but got out next ball hitting the ball straight to sweeper cover. RCB's hopes ended with ABD and KXIP went back to pacers because leggies had done their job by deception.
Now coming to KXIP vs RCB return match where they sent ABD down the order at 6. That move was heavily criticised by everyone. In all the matches i mentioned when ABD and Kohli got out, only left handers i.e. Moeen and Parthiv showed any kind of intent to prevent a collapse. Kohli said, "We had a chat, a message from outside about left-right combination and we wanted to go with it because they had two leggies. Sometimes things don't come off. We're pretty happy with the decisions we took, but it didn't come off". It is clear their analyst did his research and figured ABD and Kohli batting together in the middle overs against quality spin is too big of a risk, more so because Ashwin and Bishnoi have very good googlies. Ashwin had already accounted for Finch's wicket with 13.3 overs left and spin duo was on. If ABD and Kohli were to get out together, team would've surely collapsed as they were playing without Gurkeerat and there were only 4 all rounders left.
Kohli said after KKR match,"The management have brought in a proper culture. We have a plan A, we have a plan B, and people are executing it that's why it's looking good". Sundar was sent in to prevent collapse first and then attack after getting set with Kohli looking for singles. When Sundar got out, they switched to Plan B as team had only reached 86 for 3 after 10.3 overs. Dube played the aggressive role against spinners but he struggles against Jordan's pace. What made matters worse is Kohli and ABD got out together once again (the whole reason this plan was made) to Shami, after seeing off leggies. Cameos from Morris and Udana took them to respectable total but it wasn't enough to stop KXIP. Gurkeerat was brought back next match to replace Dube as he instills more confidence to prevent a collpase.
It was a strategic move that failed and coped criticism for it but it wasn't without merit. Moreover, it wasn't Kohli's plan as his brand of cricket is based on intent, confidence and hardwork, not on stats analysis. It is a good thing Kohli is finally listening to his support staff by using stats based approach like MI but MI never saves Pollard from any type of bowler. ABD shouldn't be saved from any bowler either. Stats based approach works more during bowling anyways as RR's weird batting approach based on stats has already proven it does more harm than good. Hopefully they don't use any weird batting order to hide from out-of-practice Tahir and out-of-form Jadeja.

We all know mega auction is probably going to be in 2022, so a lot can change between now and then with the landscape of how some players are viewed will change. However, since we're probably looking at a rebuild with a change to our core, who do you guys think could be realistic buys in the next couple of auctions? I have a couple in mind but I'd love to here what everyone else thinks.
2021 - this auction is one where the big name buys I can think of are all overseas guys, most of the younger Indian talents with high stock were already purchased the last auction. Unfortunately, CSK only have 18 Lakhs left in their purse. Considering the base price of any player is at least 20 lakhs, we may not be able to even buy anyone.
2022 - if this the mega auction year, there's a lot of doors open for players we can buy. I'm not sure about our retentions or RTMs but Curran, Jaddu and Chahar are the only names I can think of that we would or should probably retain. However, there are a lot of great names we can buy in this auction (note that I'm not saying we can or we should buy every single name on this list, they are just very good options for us)
Kane Williamson: SRH's temporary captain who led them to a finals in 2018 (and won an orange cap while doing it) is an incredible player who just doesn't fit their plans atm. Retentions will probably be used on Warner, Bairstow, and Rashid with at least one RTM on Bhuvi. Kane is an excellent batsmen who can thrive on a slower pitch like Chepauk and moreover he is an incredible captain, who matches MSD's calmness, strategic ability, and lack of ego. He could also mesh very well with Fleming into creating a strong team system. Only point of concern is the inuries he's had the past couple years and an overseas captain is a bit of a risk because at least 1 of 4 overseas slots is always gone.
Shakib Al Hassan: the best all rounder of the last decade (across all three formats) was finally unbanned from cricket a few days ago. Shakib is an excellent player, who can do literally everything. He's a bit on the older side but his game is immaculate and he adds consistency on both the middle order in batting and middle overs in bowling. Provided another team doesn't pick him up in 2021 and then retain him, he should be available.
Alex Hales: something that's always weird is that no one buys Hales in these auctions. The guys is an incredibly explosive power play batsman and he addresses an issue that was so prevalent this season with slow powerplays and middle overs. Considering every team's stemming lack of interest, we could just get him for the base price.
Evin Lewis: basically the same as Hales but even more explosive. He didn't blow IPL up in MI like people expected and he may not be as boss as Gayle is. However, he is constantly ranked Top 5 for T20 batsmen and he can be absolutely deadly on any given day. Experienced but not declining is key when looking at him. Same with Hales, a base price buy is very likely.
Dawid Malan: not very explosive but very consistent. Malan played some very very classy innings this year and is currently ranked number 1 in the T20I batsmen rankings. He's a good player who had an excellent year. I don't see him as a consistent starter but on tougher pitches especially he can be a vital figure.
Kuldeep Yadav: possibly the most overlooked Indian international bowler right now. Kuldeep isn't as popular or renowned as his spinning partner in Chahal but he is class when it's his day. With KKR not even starting him anymore, a retention seems unlikely. Imagine how potent Kuldeep would be as part of our Chepauk spin squeeze strategies. Instead of relying on Karn or Piyush to squeeze the middle overs, we'd have a truly dangerous bowler with great variations and ability to pick up wickets.
A DC batsman (either Pant or Shaw): DC have big questions to ask going into the next mega auction. Ultimately it all depends on how this and the 2021 season go. For now their retentions look to be Rabada, Shreyas, and Gabbar. Their RTMs look a bit iffy because Nortje and Stoinis are both very important to their team but Shaw and Pant also play a part especially when looking to the future. Assuming either Shaw and/or Pant become free in the auction, they are both players who we should definitely try to buy. Biggest point of concern is obviously how dreadfully inconsistent both these guys are, their impatience and careless shot selection bites them in the back so many times. However they are both young talents, with a lot of promise, who are still developing into the players they can be. When they are in touch, they can have some beautiful innings of pure runs. Pant especially is an important consideration for the WK seat that may possibly be left empty if Dhoni says his farewell. Some more maturity and patience instilled by our management and leadership could be what helps them grow into the World Class players they have the potential to be.
Suryakumar Yadav: MI have always had so much talent to retain that they're never able to keep all of them. Last time they let Rayudu and Bhaji slip through their fingers, much to our benefit. With Rohit, Bumrah, QDK Hardik, Boult, Chahar, Pollard, and Krunal all talents that MI would want to keep, they just may let SKY slip through their fingers. Now SKY isn't some superstar presence who can carry the team on his back but what he is, is an incredibly underrated batsman. He is one of the most low-key consistent batsmen in the entire league. He never has outrageous scorelines or highlight filled performances but the man is almost a guaranteed 30, at least, every time he goes to bat. With how inconsistent we have been, having someone who can get us 30 on the board, no matter how much pressure he is under, is so vital. I think we should really push for SKY because if he has dynamic superstars around him to push for the big numbers, he can be the difference between having an ok score and having a great score.
Ravichandran Ashwin: a bit old and not having his best season but having Ashwin back in yellow would be so great. It's almost certain that DC isn't gonna keep him. We know how good he can be on a Chepauk pitch and while not the best captain, he adds some good leadership and an incredibly intelligent mind for the game to the team. We need to make sure there's not a huge vacuum in leadership if MSD leaves and having an experienced icon would really help instill leadership onto the team.
Sarfaraz Khan: I know he's unfit, inconsistent, and of poor mindset but Sarfaraz is still young and can have his days where he picks the bowlers to attack. He'll be a really cheap buy so we can just keep him to fill out the bench maybe.
Kartik Tyagi: The one thing we definitely lack is a bowler who can get it up to 140 km/h. With Smith, Buttler, Archer, Stokes and Sanju on their team, I don't see Tyagi being retained or RTMed. Incredibly young with so much talent shown so far, taking at least one wicket every single game he played. I legit think he can be the next Bumrah or Shami. Some polishing of his game and this guy can be a monster.
Priyam Garg: u19 captain has had an ok season so far. His only notable game was against us. Still he showed a lot of skill and, although he got lucky with a few drops, he displayed a level of explosiveness that most of the u19s such as Jaiswal and even Paddikal haven't really shown us. As w all know, explosive = good in T20.
Riyan Parag: another young, explosive talent. He showed his ability to close out matches and with a possible departure of MSD (or even with MSD on the team, considering his dip in form), good finishers are necessary. Parag is a bit rough around the edges but he's a solid talent that could definitely go for cheap. Also his dance after he beat SRH was really fun.
Anyways these are a few names that I can think of, do you think any of these guys are a good fit or even people we could buy? Who do you think will be available in the next mega auction, and will be a suitable pick for our team?

With the next IPL being a couple of months away and me being bored af on a Saturday evening, I wanted to play armchair coach and see how good of a squad RCB can get next year.
I’ll start with the players pretty much guaranteed to make the XI next year at their best positions

1. DDP
2. Kohli
3. ____
4. AB D ✈️
5. _____
6. Dube/Ahmed/Gurkeerat
7. Morris ✈️
8. Sundar
9. Saini
10. Chahal
11. _____

**Strengths:**

• Good opening Batsmen
• Can still have space for two quality overseas players
• Bowling pretty much sorted

**Weaknesses:**

• AB shouldn’t need to keep wickets
• 3rd seamer (IDK if we can trust Siraj just yet)/ 3rd spinner
• A lot of accumulators, which makes 0 sense in Chinnaswamy
• Middle-order is a clown show except for morris

**Players to release**

Player	Price
Finch ✈️	4.4 cr
Umesh	4.2 cr
Kane Richardson/Zampa ✈️	4 cr
Steyn ✈️	2 cr
Deshpande	0.2 cr
Extra money in the purse from last year	6.4 cr
Extra money in 2021 given to each franchise	3 cr
Total	24.2 cr

If we assume that we leave around 3.2 cr to buy any backups we already don't have, this leaves us with around 21 cr for 3 slots or around 7 cr to buy 2 overseas and 1 Indian player. In total, this brings our squad down to 16 with 3 overseas slots remaining.
Overseas players retained

Player	Role	Price
AB	FinishePart-Time wk	11 cr
Morris	Death BowleFinisher	10 cr
Moeen Ali	All-rounder	1.7 cr
Udana	Death Bowler	0.5 cr
Jos Philipe	Top-order Bat/WK	0.2 cr

Bowling
We definitely need to spend money on another death bowler. Death bowling in Chinnaswamy is really hard and you would want at least 3 options in case one of your bowlers has a bad day. We already have morris and Saini as our 2 big death bowlers, however, morris is made out of glass and our "backup" in Udana would have his slow cutters carted around in the postage stamp ground that we have.
Players we can look at

1. Starc- Obv choice, will go for a lot of money because CSK, KKR, RR, and SRH will be looking for a death bowler, around 15 cr, which would leave us without a lot of money for the other guys
2. Cummins- He is almost an almost guaranteed release for KKR because of his price tag last time around, and if we get him we can probably use him as a specialist new ball bowler who bowls around 1 or 2 overs max at the death. Probably around 6-7 cr
3. Cotterel- a similar situation to the one above. Probably goes for around 5-6 cr.
4. Tom Curran (if released)/Kane Richardson- Both are specialist death bowlers, even though they don't do it particularly well lmao.

Batting
Probably the worse situation for RCB tbh, which is kinda ironic. I see this predicament going 3 ways, in order of least likely to most likely

1. Gurkeerat or Ahmed start keeping full time again/we somehow snag an Indian wk batsman in the middle order for cheap. If this happens we can spend our money on a malan/hales/Roy type player who can be explosive at the top. Also since most teams have a settled top 3 and the ones who don't like KKR can't afford to put an overseas player there because they already have 4 overseas players we can get at least one of them for cheap. Not to get too cocky but in this scenario, we would probably be the best team with our number 5 being our only weak spot unless Hales snorts too much coke.
   1. Kohli (c)
   2. DDP
   3. Hales/Roy/Malan ✈️
   4. AB D ✈️
   5. Gurkeerat/Ahmed (wk)
   6. Dube
   7. Morris ✈️
   8. Sundar
   9. Starc ✈️
   10. Saini
   11. Chahal
2. AB becomes our permanent keeper. This would be even better for RCB's balance, but it wouldn't be amazing for AB's back. This is what our xi would be. 5 or 6 may be a problem but they never get to bat 90% of the time anyway and we have batting till 9.
   1. Kohli (c)
   2. DDP
   3. Hales/Roy/Malan ✈️
   4. AB D (wk)✈️
   5. Dube/Gurkeerat
   6. Dube/Ahmed
   7. Morris ✈️
   8. Sundar
   9. Starc ✈️
   10. Saini
   11. Chahal
3. Philippe has a really good year, making him undroppable from the RCB first time playing xi. This might happen with all the talk of him replacing Carey and his good bbl season last year. Because of this Kohli will need to go back to 3 where he isn't nearly as good and 2 of Dube/gurkeerat/Ahmed would be our middle order
   1. Philippe (wk)✈️
   2. DDP
   3. Kohli (c)
   4. AB D ✈️
   5. Dube/Gurkeerat
   6. Dube/Ahmed
   7. Morris ✈️
   8. Sundar
   9. Starc ✈️
   10. Saini
   11. Chahal
4. None of the above, so we have to go for someone like Klaasan/Rahim. Klaasen with the form that he was recently in is gonna go for a shit ton of money if he continues it, so we will probably not get him for cheap, which also means no starc :(.
   1. DDP
   2. Kohli (c)
   3. AB D (wk)✈️
   4. Klaasan ✈️
   5. Dube/Gurkeerat
   6. Ahmed/Dube/Gurkeerat
   7. Morris ✈️
   8. Sundar
   9. Cummins/Cotterell/Curran/Richardson✈️
   10. Saini
   11. Chahal

Saw a lot of post by Redditors here ranting about our losses and claiming that VK should be dropped from captaincy. Its absurd that such a theory came up. First of all, This year’s VKs captaincy was way better than previous ones. Lets go through some examples. 1) Devdutt Padikkal – One of the brighest stars of IPL, He sure will be a great asset for rcb in coming yrs. He started his debut season with a fine 50 against srh. Really we thought Parthiv Patel (who had a very good last year) would open. But the management and Kohli backed him and rest was history. Just think if he was in CSK, I doubt whether he would be the first choice for Dhoni. 2) Washington Sundar - One of the most economical spinner in this ipl, he really did win a lot of matches for rcb. Though given just 3 overs in 1st 2 matches, rcb vs MI match changed his career. Kohli used him as a powerplay bowler and he choked the teams. He even took important wkts in Csk, kkr matches. Undoubtedly Vk and coach’s decision to send him up the bowling line-up paid rich dividends for our team. His economical figures in PP forced batsmens to go hard on Chahal and eventually resulted in their wkts. 3) Mohammed Siraj- Called Lord Siraj by trollers, he was a surprise in this season. Known for his expensive bowling, he became RCBs go to powerplay pacer. His fortune changed after Kohli asked him to bowl the 2nd over against kkr and then ran through the KKR batting lineup. He proved why he was lethal in the pp. 4) Team environment- This season it was evident that we played as a well functioned team. Even if we posted low scores, thanks to our shoddy batting, our bowling and fielding somehow brought us back in the game. The team’s energy was visible when they grouped after every ball. The team was more of a team than a group of distinct players who played for themselves. Kohli provided them the energy to face each challenges. His energy and passion on the field motivated the players.
Note: Our batting was way below par and it always haunted us. Even VK didn’t play like his true self. But this season was of more positives than negative. Still sad that our longing for the Cup has been extended by a year. This year, VK showed a lot of maturity as a captain and we played as a team. Few good choices in the upcoming auction could bolster our batting woes and middle order dilemma. Waiting for Next saala Cup Namde

It's a simple equation for SRH, win the remaining two. RCB is going to make a push to be a table topper. Their next game is with DC which has been on a downward trend. They are in a good position to win the next two. Their key players in their batting line up are Padikkal, Kohli and 360. Philippe and Morris can also tonk the ball a bit. But with the consistent change of pace provided by SRH, they may not get going. Getting Padikkal out early will definitely put them on backfoot.
Will the clinical batting lineup of SRH is gonna show up tomorrow? Does Saha have it in him to go back to back? Morris and Siraj are not that quick to rattle batsmen away. Playing Sundar and Chahal off is gonna be the key. Lot of questions about the potential 11. Many SRH fans want Nabi to play for Jason Holder. Do we play Bairstow to play at lower order primarily as a finisher? Get in another Indian pacer or spinner for Holder. To be fair he has been a tad expensive but he does bowl pretty sweet yorkers. Definitely has the toughness to get back into the game if tonked. I think we should move on from Samad for this season and get in a proper Indian batsmen in his place.
Winning this game will catapult us in 4th position but RR and KKR are gonna play against each other. So one of them is surely getting to 14 points and we need back to back wins to get to 14. An uphill task nonetheless.
https://preview.redd.it/8t8d9sl42cw51.png?width=1448&format=png&auto=webp&s=7671992aa2dde8ff819301582b58605af9e82094
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What's with KKR and their line up? They keep sending Narine to open and put pressure on Gill to score in Power play. Never promote Morgan up the order. He is always sent after DK!!! What's with that? And DK is not performing well even as captain.
DK promoting himself above Morgan. Tripati being sent at 8. Increases pressure and decreasing chance of a good chase.
Doesn't it need a fix? Feels like Morgan is being wasted and so are many players.
Edit : I feel today's match would have been won by KKR with a proper batting order.