IPL 2022: Puzzles to solve for teams as new season dawns

The new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) brings fresh challenges to the franchises. Ripple effects of the expansion to 10 teams will be felt by all. The resultant scarcity of proven players gives a sharper edge to strategies and creates more opportunities for new stars to emerge. Every team has to recalibrate its success formula, because making it to the playoffs is harder now with ten teams fighting for four slots, compared to eight earlier. The opening five encounters pitting them against one another will give us a first look at how their auction strategy unfolds on the ground.

CSK v KKR, March 26

Chennai Super Kings begin their title defence with a conundrum for the new skipper, Ravindra Jadeja, who takes over the reins from MS Dhoni. CSK broke the bank to reacquire Deepak Chahar for Rs 140 million, because his ability to swing the new ball made him their main striker in the powerplay. So his unavailability for the first few games because of a quadriceps tear is a huge blow.

CSK’s likely response will be to use an additional overseas seamer, England’s Chris Jordan, to share the new ball with New Zealand’s Adam Milne. Normally that would’ve meant dropping an overseas batter, but England all-rounder Moeen Ali has run into a visa delay. So his slot can go to Jordan. In Ali’s absence, Jadeja’s spin partner could be a promising new leggie from Mumbai, Prashant Solanki.

Most of all, fans will be fascinated to see how Jadeja fills the outsized shoes of his mentor, adding captaincy to his all-round abilities in bowling, batting, and fielding.

The focus will also be on the rival skipper, Shreyas Iyer, who takes charge of Kolkata Knight Riders after leading Delhi Capitals to the IPL final in 2020. He has been a prolific scorer since making his Test debut in November, and it will be interesting to see how he responds to the attacking mindset of KKR’s coach, former Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum. The absence of opener Aaron Finch and pacer Pat Cummins, Australia’s Test and ODI captains, who are on national duty in Pakistan, will be a handicap. But it gives another chance to England wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings and Kiwi pacer Tim Southee to make an impact in the IPL when the new season kicks off at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Saturday.

DC v MI, March 27

The day-night game in Sunday’s double-header pits Delhi Capitals, last season’s league topper, against the IPL’s most successful team, Mumbai Indians. DC are the worst-hit by the initial unavailability of overseas players, including all three pacers — Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, and Mustafizur Rehman. Other absentees are all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and opener David Warner who are vital like-for-like replacements for Marcus Stoinis and Shikhar Dhawan from last year’s team.

DC made their own bed of nails by choosing to retain Nortje despite his long injury layoff, and buying only seven overseas players instead of the full quota of eight. Young captain Rishabh Pant will hope the exciting Caribbean batsman, Rovman Powell, comes good, and the new spin bowling combination of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav clicks.

MI too have holes, after splurging Rs 152.5 million on reacquiring wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan, and Rs 80 million on acquiring England pacer Jofra Archer who can only play in the next two seasons. So Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t have a bowler of Trent Boult’s calibre sharing the new ball this time. And Suryakumar Yadav’s injury timeout puts the onus on openers Rohit Sharma and Kishan and big-hitters Kieron Pollard and Tim David to score. We could see plenty of sixes at the Brabourne Stadium, but watch out for Pant, Powell and Prithvi Shaw — these three DC batsmen are capable of stealing the thunder.

PBKS v RCB, March 27

Punjab Kings (PBKS) loosened their purse strings for hard-hitters: Rs 115 million for England’s Liam Livingstone, who also bowls leg-spin, Rs 90 million for uncapped batsman Shahrukh Khan, and Rs 60 million for the new Caribbean sensation, all-rounder Odean Smith. The batting-friendly ground in Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium is a perfect setting to test this strategy for the new PBKS skipper, Mayank Agarwal, who also starts a new opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan.

The unavailability of England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow and Proteas pacer Kagiso Rabada will be felt, but it opens doors for new stars to shine. One of them could be pacer Raj Bawa, player of the match in the under-19 World Cup final last month with a five-wicket haul.

After nine seasons with former India skipper Virat Kohli at the helm, Royal Challengers Bangalore begin their quest for a maiden IPL title under former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis, who was one of Dhoni’s trump cards at CSK. Du Plessis will lean heavily on Kohli coming good with the bat as Australia’s Glenn Maxwell misses the opener to get married. Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood will also be missed, but the real talking point is whether Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga will justify the Rs 107.5 million RCB shelled out for him.

Sumit Chakraberty is a writer based in Bengaluru. Write to him at chakraberty@gmail.com