IPL 2020: RR vs DC Game Plan 1 – Gopal and Archer to stop Pant? 

The 23rd match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals, could all be about match-ups. We take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the 22nd game of IPL 2020 – RR vs DC.

RR vs DC – The Rishabh Pant factor

78*, 69, 53* and 20 are scores of Rishabh Pant against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Pant is a beast against the Royals. Since 2018, not only is his average (110) against RR the best for him against any opponent, but his RPI (runs per innings ratio) and strike rate are pretty good too. These haven’t come on flat decks (Delhi & Jaipur), nor has he arrived in easy circumstances on all the instances. But, Pant has managed to deliver the goods against the Royals.

Pant has an excellent head to head records against two of Rajasthan’s best bowlers: Shreyas Gopal and Jofra Archer (both bowlers are yet to dismiss Pant in the IPL). Hence, he has dominated against RR. 

GOPAL’S GOOGLIES vs PANT: 

By checking match-by-match face-offs between Pant and Gopal in 2019, it is clear that Pant has come on top against Gopal once while in one match, Gopal didn’t allow Pant to score freely. 

RISHABH PANT vs SHREYAS GOPAL IN THE IPL:

BALLS: 24

RUNS: 36

SR: 150

Let’s first talk about Pant’s struggles vs Gopal. In the 53rd IPL match of IPL 2019, Pant walked in a tough situation and scored 11 off 13 balls against Gopal. Six of his 11 runs came off one ball, five off the rest 12. What Gopal did right in that match was bowling googlies to Pant on the good-length. His pace was good too, with the ball which Pant hit a six being the third-slowest ball from Gopal to Pant in that game, according to iplt20.com. All in all, it tells that Gopal was good for a major part of the face-off. 

Now, in the match in which Pant dominated Gopal was the 40th match of IPL 2019 in Jaipur. Though Gopal did bowl a few googlies to Pant, his length was either too full or too short. Pant cashed in. Since this match was played earlier, it also shows Gopal did plan well for Pant for their next face-off.

Now, Gopal’s challenge is really big against Pant because of the ground: Sharjah. Averaging 55.10, in IPL 2020, the spinners have a poor economy of 10.5 in Sharjah. In two games Gopal has played there, his returns were poor. Bowling 48 balls in Sharjah, Gopal has picked just one wicket and has an economy of 10.25. He has played two matches there, so the experience might help him in adapting.  

What Gopal needs to do is to bowl on the good-length and not at Pant’s legs. Pant has got out against googlies twice this year. Facing 19 googlies, he has scored 7 runs and played five false shots (excluding misses) this season. 

Gopal, on the other hand, while bowling googlies, has been quite effective. Bowling 49 googlies, the leg-spinner has picked up two wickets at an economy of 8.20; his overall economy is 9 so far. Against left-handers, this season, 15 of his 21 balls have been googlies. Even though he has failed to pick up a wicket on googlies against southpaws, his economy of 5.6 is very impressive.

ARCHER’s SHORT BALLS vs PANT: 

Pant has also dominated Archer. A bowler of Archer’s quality should ideally be able to have decent returns against Pant; Pant is an excellent T20 batsman, mind you. Archer has bowled quick, he has bowled short, however, error in line and length at times have cost the pacer dear.

RISHABH PANT vs JOFRA ARCHER IN THE IPL:

BALLS: 12

RUNS: 25

SR: 208.33

What Archer has done wrong against Pant is bowling from round the wickets on all the deliveries in their IPL face-offs. Since bowling from round the wicket favours the angle for Pant, the batsman has really cashed in. According to iplt20.com, 24 of Pant’s 25 runs against Archer have come on the leg-side.

Sure, bowling from over the wicket might not be very tempting for Archer as the risk of bowling on Pant’s legs increases that way. However, bowling from over the wicket angles the ball away from Pant. 

IPL 2020: RISHABH PANT vs RIGHT-ARM PACERS OVER THE WICKET

Pant has scored 89 runs against right-arm pacers (while bowling from over the wicket), and over 38% of those runs have come in the mid-wicket and the long-on region. So, what Archer can do is bowling short balls at a high pace from the over the wicket. Since Archer bowls really quick, it will be hard for Pant to pull, especially in that region. Pant is also a bit late while playing pull shots in general, however, the short boundaries in Sharjah might favour the batsman.

Right-arm pace bowling (from over the wicket) from the ‘far end’ in Sharjah this season has been comparatively more useful for the southpaws who like to score in the leg-side. The percentage of runs scored in the leg-side as well as the mid-wicket & long-on region from the far end are over 55% and 39 % respectively.

IPL 2020: RIGHT-ARM PACERS vs LEFT-HANDED BATSMEN FROM OVER THE END WHILE BOWLING FROM THE FAR END IN SHARJAH

IPL 2020: RIGHT-ARM PACERS vs LEFT-HANDED BATSMEN FROM OVER THE END WHILE BOWLING FROM THE NEAR END IN SHARJAH

Thus, Archer might also consider bowling from the ‘far end’ rather than the ‘near end’.