The battle in the top five of the IPL 2024 standings is getting intense as we quickly move  towards the playoffs. You can make out easily which teams are in the contest for the playoffs  berth. The fight is very close, and it can get closer with a couple of weeks remaining in the group  stage.  

I am hugely impressed with Kolkata Knight Riders for how they have peaked just at the right  time. I saw some of their games from close quarters as I was working on those matches and their  body language, their cricket, the way they played was terrific to watch. 

KKR are timing their run very well. They have almost sealed the spot in the playoffs. You need  to give a lot of credit for KKR’s success this year to Sunil Narine. His batting has done a lot of  talking this season but his brilliance with the ball has been nothing sort of exceptional.  

When KKR bowl, it seems as if the opposition is targeting to score in only 16 overs. The  opponents are playing Narine’s four overs out, out of respect. It is almost as if KKR are  defending target in 16 overs and not just 20. It is a huge fillip for them. I think Narine is already  Player of the Tournament, regardless of what happens in the rest of the competition. At 35, to  play with this clarity of thought and produce performances with both bat and ball, reflects his  solid work ethic and a fantastic team environment at KKR. 

I am sure Gautam Gambhir’s comeback to the KKR setup has worked as he seems to have made  some changes at the backend. They look very calm yet very authoritative. Not forgetting the  contribution of the ‘bowler’ Andre Russell. I had said at the start of the tournament that Russell  was coming in great form. His bowling has been a huge relief for KKR as Russell, the bowler,  has stepped up and delivered a good show. Mitchell Starc is also getting better and better and  KKR could not have asked for better timing than this for him to peak as the playoffs come  closer. 

What I like about KKR is that they do not play the game one-way. They can react well to the  situations. One instance that explains my point is how Venkatesh Iyer crafted his 70 at a strike  rate of 135 vs Mumbai. It was a very smart, clever way of batting. He read the situation well and  played accordingly. That innings reflected the KKR mindset this season. 

Rinku Singh has looked below par in the competition so far. His confidence would have taken a  hit after being overlooked in the T20 World Cup side. I feel he should have been there. However,  I still feel he is only one hit away from being back to his best.  

Right now, KKR are in a good place, both mentally and in the standings. They must look to win  the remaining three games of the competition as well to remain in the top two and maintain the  momentum. 

LSG vs SRH a huge game this week

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were very poor in their last match at home. They looked like the  away team in their home ground. Their bowling was very poor, to say the least. They knew  where to ball but lacked control. It must have been a frustrating watch for the dugout and the  fans because of this substandard display of their team’s extraordinary talent. 

The kind of target they were chasing in the match needed a better approach, but their reply  lacked punch. I have been consistently mentioning Nicholas Pooran and how he needs to bat up  the order, but it does not seem to be how LSG are thinking.  

They are playing Sunrisers Hyderabad next, and it is going to be a huge game in context of  where these two sides are placed in the standings. SRH were not at their best vs MI as  Suryakumar Yadav took the game away from them thanks to his brilliant hundred. After a  phenomenal start to the league, they are scrapping a bit now. The one advantage for SRH is they  have all their remaining games at home. Expect some big hitting in the match as it has been their  strength this season. However, they need to strike the right balance as far as their playing 11 is  concerned.  

Pat Cummins has been outstanding both as a pacer and captain. There were a lot of questions  raised about his capability as a captain in this format. But he has been superb at the job so far.  His clarity of thought and ability to make decisions on the go has been simply brilliant. He has  been leading with the ball as well. 

RR still good but need Ashwin back in form 

As far as Rajasthan Royals are concerned, they lost the last match but fair to say that they still  looked like the best side in the tournament. Their batting has looked very strong throughout the  season. When the top-order was not firing, the likes of Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag played  some brilliant knocks and took the team out of trouble. In the middle of the season, Jos Buttler  and Yashasvi Jaiswal started firing which is a huge lift for them. 

R Ashwin’s form, however, is a big concern for them. They will want Ashwin to hit bowling  form if RR want to continue with same balance of the side. That is the only question mark that  needs answering in their remaining games.  

Chennai must make Daryl Mitchell bat at 3 

I am very impressed with CSK and their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. I had mentioned at the start of  the competition that it was very important for Gaikwad to lead with the bat. He started off  shakily with the bat but as the tournament progressed, he was able to surpass the huge challenge  of maintaining his own batting form while leading the team. He deserves great credit for being  able to do that. 

I also like seeing Daryl Mitchell bat at number 3. I feel CSK have tried way too many  combinations for different spots way too much. But I think we need to consider the fact that they  kept losing different players every now and then to injuries. Matheesha Pathirana, Deepak  Chahar are latest casualties while Mustafizur Rahman has now left for national duty. These  injuries and the growing list of absentees influenced their picks. 

Mitchell at number 3 is, I believe, the way to go for CSK. I would also want to see MS Dhoni  come higher up in the batting order, but I think a muscle tear is annoying him and is reason why  he is batting so lower down the order. CSK would have benefitted hugely from the form that  Dhoni is in. Ravindra Jadeja is peaking at the right time as well. This is a good sign for CSK at  this stage of the tournament and for Team India as the T20 World Cup comes closer. 

I would also like to see more and more of Mitchell Santner in CSK XI. He brings a perfect  balance with both ball and bat. The way CSK lined-up in the last match at Dharamsala is how  they should continue playing. CSK are in a strong position in the standings, at third, even with 5  wins from 11 matches because of their healthy NRR. The Net Run Rate is going to play a huge  role at the end of the group stage and CSK are doing themselves a huge favour by maintaining  such a healthy NRR. 

Varying pace more important than just deception for fast bowlers 

I spoke about the ways to bring more balance between the bat and ball in my last article. In the  last week, we have seen a fewer number of high-scoring matches as more bowling-friendly  pitches may have been prepared. I am still backing my idea of the introduction of a new ball,  crafted especially for this format. However, I feel that to tackle big and brutal hitting by the  batters on these flat surfaces, the fast bowlers also need to work on one important area: the  change of pace. 

If you look at the speedometer, often a quicker ball is followed by a slower ball. I know a key  element of pace bowling is deception. But batters are too good these days to understand these  deceptions and what the bowler is thinking. Suppose a bowler bowls two 135 kph deliveries  followed by 121 kph, then back to 134 kph and then 114 kph. The big hitters like Travis Head  and Phil Salt are used to these variations now. The batters are used to this sort of change in pace. They know what’s coming next. 

I think where bowlers need to develop the game is to use subtle variations than such big  variations between the deliveries. The idea is to be smart with your variations and not just look to  deceive the batter with a slower back-of-the-hand delivery after a faster one. Just sticking to  faster ball-slower ball tactic is not going to help today. 

The likes of Salt, Head and other top-order players can set themselves up looking at the ball from  the moment it is released from the hand till they are going to hit it. That is why they are able to  crack the deception well. However, if the varying of pace is more constant and subtle, from ball  to ball, you are more likely to create the error from the batter and the chances of them getting  dismissed caught increases, there would be more mistimed shots. 

Constantly varying your speed between the overs and not just trying to deceive the batter is the  idea the bowlers need to work upon.