IPL 2021: SRH vs RCB Game Plan 2 – The Manish Pandey conundrum

The sixth match of the IPL 2021 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore, could all be about match-ups. Here, we take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the sixth game of IPL 2021 – SRH vs RCB. Manish Pandey has been a huge […]
 
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IPL 2021: SRH vs RCB Game Plan 2 – The Manish Pandey conundrum

The sixth match of the IPL 2021 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore, could all be about match-ups. Here, we take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the sixth game of IPL 2021 – SRH vs RCB.

Manish Pandey has been a huge disappointment for the SRH management. Despite investing a hefty sum of 11 crore INR, Manish has produced bad returns. In spite of considering his incorrect usage (another one by SRH!) in one and a half seasons, his overall performance should be criticised.

Even though his average for SRH of about 33 is decent, a mediocre strike rate of 125 doesn’t help his case even one bit. And, despite batting at No. 3 in IPL 2020, his strike rate was still under 130.

Spin-bowling has mainly caused problems for the Karnataka batsman. Although his average against spinners in comparison to pace is a bit better, he scores at a much better rate against pacers than he does against tweakers. The away-turners, as often is the case, have got the better of Pandey, in particular.

Pandey indeed has a very good base against pace-bowling. He isn’t troubled by express pace, even though his hitting might be limited. And, against pace, his true success is in the powerplay.

Manish Pandey – as an opener?

Since IPL 2019, he has scored 254 runs at a strike rate of about 157 being dismissed just twice (one due to run out) in the powerplay. The SRH batsman also boasts of a balls-per-boundary ratio of under four. These are astonishing numbers!

As already mentioned that Pandey is a good player of pace-bowling. Add his conventional stroke-play with his gap-finding ability, he is among the best options for utilising the powerplay.

His game though isn’t very well suited for batting in the death overs against pacers. The strike rate in the slog overs in T20s needs to be very high and that’s not Manish’s forte. He lacks power and range at times – to achieve that high strike rate.

Thus, Manish Pandey can be a good option for opening. It’s harsh on Wriddhiman Saha who was good as a powerplay aggressor in the last edition of the IPL, or in general. But, Pandey’s ceiling is much higher and SRH already have a wicket-keeper in Jonny Bairstow.

This is unlikely to happen after just one loss but it’s worth considering it. Also, SRH have plenty of batsmen which leads to Abdul Samad’s under-utilisation, as discussed in the Game Plan 1.

They might include Abhishek Sharma for Saha. Abhishek can be used to hit spinners in the middle-overs to boost the scoring rate, without putting much value on his wicket. RCB have a leg-spinner in Yuzvendra Chahal and a left-arm orthodox spinner in Shahbaz Ahmed. SRH don’t have the luxury of an LHB middle-order batsman. And this might not be a bad ploy at all, especially considering the venue!

Abhishek also provides a decent SLA option for bowling, depending on the match-ups. This also upgrades SRH’s bowling attack a bit.

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