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McCullum Tears into KKR top order


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Because of the Tuk Tuk top order culture in Ind, where the batsmen look to bat till 15 overs starting to only connect once they have played 25 balls, these guys probably think they are already playing quick enough :phehe:

 

Though it is shame that despite being given a free licence, these guys (Gill in particular) continue to play in a stats padding fashion 

 

Maybe give them check in targets such as a quick 20-25 off 15 balls (a quick 20 in PP is good). If still batting, another 20 in 12 balls. If still batting, now go for 12 to 15 runs in an over constantly, and so on in good batting conditions 

Edited by zen
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Excerpts:

 

 

"It's very, very disappointing," McCullum said. "I think as a player, you ask to be given freedom and confidence and loyalty when it comes to selection, to go out there and take the game on and try and be aggressive... and to try and make things happen for your team. That's the style of play which both myself and the captain [Eoin Morgan] have asked of our players. But unfortunately we're not quite getting that. We're certainly not getting it in the abundance that we need.


"What we saw from Prithvi Shaw tonight was the perfect template of how we want to play. You're not always going to be able to hit every ball for four or six, but you can have the intent to do so, particularly when you're given a free licence. It's very difficult if you don't play shots to score runs, and unfortunately tonight we didn't play enough shots. It's become a bit of a theme.“

 

In a clear reference to his top order, McCullum said that runs at the top against a new ball and with field restrictions in place were imperative, especially given the slow nature of the surfaces in IPL 2021, where so far teams have often found it difficult to tee off at the death.

 

"Look, on a slow surface you've really got to maximise the new ball and the fielding restrictions," he said. "One thing we have to get our heads around is that in T20 cricket, you've got to part from the old-school mentality of trying to find a boundary and then get a one. You've got to try and put some pressure back on the opposition bowlers. If you get a boundary, then look for another, and then look for another one. If you're able to do that, then the opposition bowler is under an immense amount of pressure and normally what happens then is they don't execute. Then you can have big overs, and that allows you to be able to build into an innings, create those partnerships and those sizeable platforms.


"It's very difficult if you're not trying to look for boundaries for that to happen. So it's more of an application thing than it is anything else. It's incredibly disappointing because I've asked time and time again for us to be more aggressive and more expressive and take the game on, and we continue to not do it. So we're going to have to make some changes for sure."

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That's a very good template by Brendon McCullum for T20 cricket. When you hit one boundary, you look for another & then another, instead of settling on singles. But it's hard to convince someone who think strike rate is overrated.

On the coaching front, Brendon McCullum should look in the mirror before coming to the personnel though. Same old rotten tactics of sending Narine in middle order, pre identified bowling plans etc have definitely contributed to KKR's poor season. Baz has got right intentions as a T20 coach but he has ordinary tactics which he backs to the hilt despite consistent failures. I ll call him a failure as a coach in IPL for sure. 

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Well what did the big strike rate people do? KKR’s best performers have been Rana and Tripathi ( top order). Really, what have the big3 - Morgan, Karthik and to some extent Russell accomplished? For the most part they have been swinging and getting out with tailender type results. Also, who stopped Morgan from shuffling the batting order to shake things up? Looking at the coach’s table where some number cruncher shows “54” doesn’t cut it. These guys are a bunch of cowards who will take it out on Gill- who is still trying to figure out his game, while the believer of this system and other big time international stars are underperforming big time. 
 

Also, everybody can’t successfully swing for a 4 or 6 every ball, without also increasing risk. Risk and reward need to be assessed. And obviously, risk levels increase if the opposition bowling/ fielding happens to be good. That is why, for example, the batsman targets the part time bowler, but might be a little more cautious playing Rashid Khan. Risk- reward assessments change. Keeping that in mind when KKR was defending a below par total, maybe they should have targeted Shaw by opening the attack with its best bowler - Pat Cummins, instead of waiting a few overs to bring him on. That would have at least raised the risk level if Shaw came out swinging. So, clearly if KKR was honest, their problem is not limited to the “top order”. KKR is too predictable as it implements a faulty strategy under a captain who has no business holding a place in the eleven, let alone lead the team.

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3 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Coaching rule #1:  Keep the dirty laundry indoors.  Rip into your players in private, but support them 100% in public.  McCullum was a great player, maybe a great tactician/analyst etc etc., but his leadership skills are questionable.  

 

Agree, but for how long. What if the players aren't mending their ways even after repeated appeals, which seems to be the case here. 

 

Sometimes a public prodding is necessary for the development of the players. Just look at Shaw. Also the fans deserves to know what going wrong with the team. 

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It's a disease amongst the India openers barring a few like Shaw and Mayank.

 

Its understandable, likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are limited players in T20, but seeing KL Rahul go down this anchor role is disappointing. 

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the hope before the tournament was that Morgan especially would rub off on someone like Gill and make him bat more freely. Based on what I've seen he's still a year away from doing it to the level we want him to and the example of that is also Padikkal who is batting much more freely this year. They need to try something different with their batting though and Id bring in Nair to see what he can do while binning their icon Narine for Shakib. It's criminal that they can't find a place for NZL's best white ball bowler in their team.

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"What we saw from Prithvi Shaw tonight was the perfect template of how we want to play. You're not always going to be able to hit every ball for four or six, but you can have the intent to do so, particularly when you're given a free licence. It's very difficult if you don't play shots to score runs, and unfortunately tonight we didn't play enough shots. It's become a bit of a theme. A saying that I've used throughout my career is that 'If you can't change a man, change the man.' So we'll probably have to make some changes and try and bring in some fresh personnel who will hopefully take the game on a bit more."

 

 

 

This Being Safe has become a problem with so many batsman starting from KL rahul. Shaw innings was a reminder that u can throw opposition out of game within few overs. Fine he has a rare gift but if players like KL, Pant start to underplay their ability they are not helping themselves 

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