RCB vs DC Game Plan 2: Countering the Chahal googly threat

The 19th match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Royal Challengers Bangalore 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 eighteenth game of IPL 2020 – RCB vs DC

RCB vs DC – The Yuzvendra Chahal factor

He is possibly the biggest player in the RCB setup. No, not Virat Kohli. YUZVENDRA CHAHAL. The purple cap holder in the IPL 2020 season so far, Chahal has stood out in the RCB setup with key wickets for them this season. Four of his eight wickets have come in the middle overs where he concedes runs at an economy rate just over six runs per over.

Chahal owns the middle overs and it’s the phase where RCB make up for their death bowling inefficiencies. Thwarting Chahal’s plans definitely increases your chances of success against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi come with three such weapons in their middle-order: Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer.

Pant and Hetmyer are obvious left-handed match-ups against the leg-spinner. The wicket-keeper batsman strikes at a rate of nearly 160 against leg-spinners in the IPL since 2018, having been dismissed five times by them. One of those was against Chahal last season, a bowler against whom that strike-rate is still good at 145.16.

Hetmyer, on the other hand, has fallen twice to Chahal in 16 balls in T20 Internationals, while scoring at 143.75. In ODIs, though, Hetmyer has absolutely smashed Chahal, scoring 83 off 68 balls against him with five sixes. He has been dismissed once too. A high-risk, high-reward approach, but given the strength in that DC middle-order, it is imperative that Hetmyer looks to take on Chahal. Not allowing the leggie to bowl to his plans and forcing runs off him is vital even it means Hetmyer loses his wicket to Chahal.

ALSO READ: RCB vs DC Game Plan 1 : AB vs KG and Nortje

Chahal has bowled 15 of his 21 googlies to left-handers this season, denying them the favourable turn. However, both his wickets off googlies have come against right-handers. His economy when bowling googlies is also significantly lower to that of the conventional leg-break.

Chahal, in a conversation with Cricbuzz, had said that he picked up the quicker googly from his RCB teammate, Adam Zampa. 

“I watched Zampa play for the Australian team and I’ve tried to bowl quicker googlies in this IPL,” Chahal said. “It will give lesser chances for batsmen to hit sixes and easier to get them out.”

“When I got Vijay Shankar’s wicket with a googly, I think that was very important because it’s always a dream for a legspinner to bowl that delivery. That gave me more confidence… before that I bowled 2-3 times in the nets. I spoke to AB [de Villiers] sir and even he told me he’s not able to pick my googlies earlier, so he told me ‘please use your googlies, but depending on the situation. Batsmen are not able to read you.'”

                                                                                       RCB vs DC – Shreyas Iyer vs Yuzvendra Chahal

The key man for Delhi, though, is Iyer. The right-handed DC skipper has a terrific record against Chahal, although his overall record against leg-spinners in IPL since 2018 isn’t all that impressive. Against Chahal, Iyer has faced 39 balls, scoring 63 runs with six sixes and at a strike rate of 161.5.

Since 2018, eight of his dismissals have come against leg-spinners in the IPL and his strike-rates against the kind of bowlers is way lower compared to that against Chahal. This year, Iyer has also been brutal against googlies, scoring 17 off the 7 such balls he has faced. His battle with Chahal could set the game up for Delhi, particularly when there are batsmen like Pant, Hetmyer and Stoinis around him.