All 10 teams have played a game each in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Barring the match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) in Chennai, all other venues witnessed high-scoring encounters. While Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have looked the strongest among all, given their batting firepower, Punjab Kings’ execution of plans has impressed many, thanks to the way they were tactically prepared for the clash against the Gujarat Titans on Tuesday (March 25).
Even before the toss, they were prepared for any situation in the game and listed their substitutes accordingly, keeping their opponents guessing on who could be their impact player. PBKS involved the impact player, Vijaykumar Vyshak, only after 14 overs in the second innings and he clearly made a ‘Real Impact’ in the game.
The match summary and scorecard won’t tell you this! PBKS introduced Vyshak as their impact player after 13 overs as soon as the Gujarat Titans sent their impact player – Sherfane Rutherford – to bat after Sai Sudharsan’s dismissal. He didn’t come on to bowl straightaway, which was surprising, but when he did, in the 15th over, he bowled a total of six dot balls, all to Rutherford, in his first two overs.
Rutherford had got off to a sizzling start, smashing 18 runs in his first seven deliveries before he faced Vyshak and this is where the game turned on its head. Punjab Kings conceded only 5, 8 and 5 runs in overs 15, 16 and 17, respectively. Now, what special did the Punjab Kings do here? Let’s see
Like other teams, they didn’t introduce their impact player – Vyshak – at the start of the innings. They kept him fresh until the 14th over, were clear of his role in the match and brought him in at the right time. When he came on to bowl, he had no baggage of going for a lot of runs in his earlier overs, wasn’t tired and was clear with his plans to bowl full and wide outside off. He stuck to his guns despite bowling wides at times, and the plan worked as Rutherford couldn’t put bat to ball at all. By the time the Titans got hold of his plans and smashed Vyshak for 18 runs in his third over, the damage was already done.
But how does this prove that the Punjab Kings were prepared for every situation in the match even before the toss? Have a look at their substitutes one by one carefully:
Their impact substitutes, apart from Vyshak, were Nehal Wadhera, Praveen Dubey, Harpreet Brar and Vishnu Vinod. Barring Vinod, every player could’ve played a role in the match, depending on the situation. Read Also
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In case they would’ve collapsed batting first, Wadhera could’ve come on to bat down the order. Once they crossed that hurdle, they had Vyshak, Dubey and Brar among options who could’ve come on as an impact player.
If the pitch had something in it for the spinners in the second half, they had Dubey, the leg spinner, and Brar, the left-arm spinner, in the sheds. Chahal’s impact in the game would’ve dictated Dubey’s inclusion and maybe, depending on right-handers in GT line-up, Brar was in their plans. Vyshak, probably only came to bowl as Rutherford walked in and not Glenn Phillips as an impact player.
A video is going viral in which Arshdeep Singh is gesturing towards Iyer to bring Vyshak in as an impact player as soon as Rutherford walked in to bat. These are the crunch moments where the matches are won and lost and clearly, Punjab Kings won against Gujarat Titans tactically despite things not going to plan for them in the defence of 243 runs for the first 14 overs.
The tactic of keeping your impact player, especially a bowler, fresh while defending a score and introducing him in the death overs might become a trend this season. The other teams are certain to take a cue from Punjab Kings in the upcoming matches.
