IPL 2022: Has KL Rahul’s season been actually good? And other burning questions from PBKS vs LSG clash – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Lucknow Super Giants defended a total of 153 against Punjab Kings to go up to third in the IPL 2022 points table. The KL Rahul-led side had a disappointing outing with the bat with the skipper stating in the post-match interview that he was “fuming” after some “stupid cricket with the bat”. LSG, however, went on to put up a fine bowling display and notched up their sixth win of the season.

Here we raise a few burning questions to dissect the match.

Why KL Rahul’s season hasn’t been as great as his overall numbers suggest?

Most of KL Rahul’s runs this season has come in two matches against Mumbai Indians. Image: Sportzpics

KL Rahul has had an interesting season with the bat. He is second in the race to the Orange Cap with 374 runs at an average of 53.43, but if you dig deeper, the Lucknow opener’s numbers are split into two clear halves. Against Mumbai Indians, Rahul notched up two hundreds, tallying 206 runs from two games against them. Against the other teams, across seven games, Rahul has only managed 168 runs. Rahul’s average against the other teams stands at 24 this season with his strike rate at 121.7. Against Mumbai Indians, he wasn’t dismissed in either innings and his strike rate was 168.9.

Rahul’s numbers are also different when it comes to batting first and second. When batting first, Rahul has scored 280 runs this year at an average of 93.3 and a strike rate of 152.2. In the second innings, it drops to 23.5 and 123.7 respectively. While the overall numbers appear good, Rahul hasn’t had a good season so far with the bat barring a couple of knocks against the ordinary Mumbai Indians attack.

Why Punjab Kings need to change their batting approach?

Not for the first time in the season, Punjab Kings disappointed with the bat despite the side being seen as one of the best batting units post the IPL 2022 auction. With a dynamic group of players in the top six, Punjab inspired much confidence, but it hasn’t translated into performances. The spinners, in particular, are doing well against Punjab Kings, a result of not really having a great spin-hitting option in the middle overs.

Punjab’s strike rate of 107.89 against spinners this year is the lowest by any team while their average of 20.5 is the worst after Kolkata Knight Riders. Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Liam Livingstone have been their best players against spin so far. Rajapaksa strikes at a rate of 150 and has only been dismissed once to spin, but the left-hander hasn’t survived long enough against pace to make an impact. However, he remains the only left-hander in the middle-order for Punjab and is key to counter spin matchups. Livingstone goes at a strike rate of 147.1 against spinners this year, but he has been dismissed thrice, leaving his average in the 20s.

What’s evident from this is that none of the PBKS batters actually stay long enough to make a huge impact, although their strike rates have been decent. To complement this approach, PBKS ideally need batting depth, but they have Rishi Dhawan at No 7 and Jitesh Sharma at No 6. While Dhawan clocked incredible batting numbers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, No 7 is a bit high in the IPL for him. Jitesh, meanwhile, has been super impressive but is again new to the league. Punjab sorely miss an impactful middle-order batter who can bat deep enough to make a difference. They will continue to bank on Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow, but need to add batting depth and tune up their template to that of batting-heavy sides.

How underrated is Dushmantha Chameera in this format?

Dushmantha Chameera produced another impressive performance, picking up the key wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Jonny Bairstow to peg back Punjab Kings. The Sri Lankan has had an interesting season with the ball. He has taken five wickets in the powerplay (economy rate of 7.71), one in the middle overs (economy rate of 6.0), and one in the death (economy rate of 9.8). In each phase, Chameera has a better economy rate than the average bowler this year, but his overall numbers have taken a hit because of a few stranded performances.

In the two games against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, Chameera had spells of 3-0-31-2 and 4-0-49-0, economy rates above 10 runs per over. However, in each of the remaining four games that he played, Chameera has gone at an economy rate of less than 8 runs per over, twice clocking economy rates under six. Chameera is four short of 100 T20 wickets, and has been impressive with his ability to bowl in each of the three phases. At Lucknow Super Giants, he is coming into his own as an impactful T20 bowler.

How good a buy has Krunal Pandya proved to be?

Krunal Pandya of Lucknow Super Giants has proved to be match-winner this season. Image: Sportzpics

Krunal Pandya went for a price of INR 8.25 crores in the 2022 IPL mega auction after Mumbai Indians released him. CSK and Punjab Kings started the bidding war for Krunal with Lucknow and Gujarat Titans ending it. Lucknow’s was the winning bid, but at the time, that kind of price for Krunal seemed a tad high given his dwindling returns with bat and ball for Mumbai Indians in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

The all-rounder had the worst bowling average for a spinner (minimum 25 overs bowled) in IPL between 2020 and 2021. This was compounded by poor returns with the bat — an average of 15.75 and a strike rate of 117.21. The price for Krunal as such seemed a bit hyped. But he has gone on to justify it this year with brilliant returns with the ball, culminating in his first Player of the Match award in five years in the IPL.

Kruna’s economy rate of 6.19 is the best by any bowler other than Sunil Narine in IPL 2022. Krunal has also taken more wickets at a much better strike rate than Narine. Notably, he has turned from the fifth bowling option in the team to the frontline spinner with Ravi Bishnoi misfiring.

Why LSG need Ravi Bishnoi to step up to become a world-beating unit?

Krunal’s impressive showing has covered up for Ravi Bishnoi’s off-show for Lucknow Super Giants, especially in the second half of the innings. Bought outside of the auction, Bishnoi hasn’t quite had the same kind of impact he had at Punjab Kings last year. In 2021, Bishnoi clocked an economy rate of 6.39, taking his 12 wickets came at an average of 19.2. In 2022, Bishnoi has conceded runs at a rate of 8.23 with his seven wickets coming at an average in excess of 40.

28 of Bishnoi’s 35 overs this year have come in the middle overs with him notably lacking control in the second half of the middle overs. In the first half of the innings (overs 1-10), Bishnoi had an economy rate of 7.27 with four of his six wickets coming in this phase. In the second half, though, his numbers have gone for a toss. The economy rate is 8.95 despite him mostly still bowling before the 16th over.

In the first five matches in 2022, Bishnoi had an economy rate of 6.90, but in the last four games, it has shot up to 10 runs per over. Lucknow need better control from their lead spinner to complement Krunal’s fabulous season and achieve even better returns from the bowling group as a whole.

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