LSG will need to rotate their bowlers smartly.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) made numerous tactical blunders in the previous game, but their biggest fumble was lining up a poor bowling attack. Their options are already limited and short in experience, and those who played in Lucknow don’t complement each other at all. It all started when LSG brought in Shahbaz Ahmed as an impact player, which ruled out Digvesh Rathi’s role.
Ideally, Rathi should have been in the main XI right from the start, with one of the many pacers as substitutes to begin with. They didn’t play any of Mayank Yadav or Avesh Khan; instead, they preferred Anrich Nortje. With limited resources and quality, LSG eventually failed to maintain the pressure even after early wickets.
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LSG need to have Digvesh Rathi in the XI, for starters. He’s their main spinner, and the only specialist wrist-spinner in the squad. As mentioned in our previous game plan, he’s brilliant against LHBs and will be vital against SRH, who have an all-LHB top three.
Shahbaz Ahmed shouldn’t come in at all for multiple reasons. Firstly, SRH have a lot of LHBs, which rules out the possibility of bowling in the powerplay, while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen are among the best spin-hitters in the side. They won’t allow the left-arm spinner to settle in the middle overs, and his batting doesn’t add value at all.
In the pace department, LSG can drop Anrich Nortje and include one of Avesh or Mayank, both of whom can bowl hard lengths at a high pace. They won’t take an overseas slot either. As for Anrich, he has been too vulnerable and wayward to be trusted on flat surfaces, and Hyderabad will have a flat one in the day game.
Avesh Khan has a fine record against Abhishek Sharma while also dismissing Travis Head twice. Even Heinrich Klaasen hasn’t scored too freely against him and has also lost his wicket once. So, his chances of succeeding in Hyderabad are high, and he should replace Nortje.
Instead, LSG can look to add more variety and work with a better middle-order batter in Josh Inglis. He can bat from No.4 to 6 and brings quality skills against pace and spin. If he’s unavailable, LSG have Matthew Breetzke, who’s another middle-order batter and will add some firepower to a vulnerable batting unit.
This will be a day game, so that the new-ball movement will be minimal, and the idea should be to make the ball old as soon as possible. Digvesh might need to bowl in the powerplay since he has a fine record against LHBs. He can dismiss a few early on.
The most important section will be the usage of Prince Yadav. He bowled with the new ball against Delhi Capitals and generated early movement under the lights. However, LSG should change the plan this time and instead start with Mohsin Khan and Mohammed Shami.
He started in the fourth over last time, but LSG must maximise his new-ball strength and extract anything in the air early on. His value will diminish a bit with the old ball, and he can be front-loaded to create a different angle early on. Mohsin will ensure that the pace attack doesn’t become one-dimensional early on.
The key reason to use him ahead is Prince’s ability to extract reverse swing with the old ball. Last season, around 17.36% of his deliveries generated reverse swing, which had an economy rate of only 7.20 runs per over and fetched him two wickets. Then, he also has a few cutters and slower ones to mix those fuller ones and bowl into the pitch, should there be any grip in the second half of the innings.
This was his primary role last season, where around 65.21% of his total overs came after the 10-over mark. His skills are better suited to the old ball at the moment than Mohsin’s. Had Mohsin not been around, Prince Yadav could have bowled a few at the start, but they should change the strategy now, specifically for the SRH game.
LSG have Avesh Khan to use an over with the new ball if Shami or Mohsin is mighty expensive early on. Otherwise, Shami, Mohsin, and Digvesh can bowl most of the powerplay overs. That will help them give every bowler their favourable matchups and phases to operate in, and maximise the available resources.
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