Rohit Sharma’s overall record in the IPL is substantial, but in the past three years, his numbers have dropped a bit. The fact that the Mumbai Indians still won twice in those three years speaks to the strength of the franchise, but they did so with a somewhat smaller contribution from their captain than they are usually used to.
From 2017 to 2019, Sharma averaged 25.60 and hit his runs at 127.52, both well below what his numbers had been from 2008 to 2016: an average of 33.68 and a strike rate of 131.72. The difference is most marked when looking at his impact per inning according to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats algorithm: among the 12 years he has played in the IPL, his two lowest years were 2017 and 2018, while 2019 ranks eighth.
Perhaps not entirely coincidental, the years 2017 to 2019 also saw an uptick in the overall IPL score rate, with execution rates for the tournament of 8.41, 8.64 and 8.41 in each successive year, never breaking the mark. of 8.40 in no previous IPL Year.
That’s not to say that the pace of the T20 game was getting faster than Sharma could handle. It can, and has been, as devastating in the shorter format as it is in one-day cricket. But in his latest avatar, Sharma has developed a method that generally sees him being more cautious at first before exploding later. It works great when you stick around for a period of time, but if you leave early your numbers suffer. And the nature of T20 cricket is that you will come out early more often than deep.
As one of the smartest thinkers in the game, Sharma will have worked out the method that works best for his team, even if it means a drop in his personal numbers, and there are good reasons for his approach. Given the depth and striking power of the Mumbai Indians, even a Sharma score below par can be absorbed. And when he’s at his best, he can add a layer of firepower that takes the team to another level. Ultimately, this is a compensation that benefits the team and the results are also indisputable.
And now, with the IPL moving to the United Arab Emirates, it could simply be a reversion to the mean that finds Sharma’s method even more effective. The first evidence of that was in how Sharma punched his 80 of 54 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders, leading his team to a formidable 195 of 5 and eventually a complete victory.
The Mumbai Indians play eight of their league games in Abu Dhabi, with three each in Dubai and Sharjah. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi has not been as conducive to big shots as the Wankhede has been. Before the Mumbai Indians played the Knight Riders, six for every 49 balls were hit at the venue, as opposed to every 17 balls at the Wankhede. The terrain itself is larger and the fields tend not to be as flat. In Q20 since 2017, the execution rate in Abu Dhabi has been 7.3, lower than any IPL location in that time period.
A lower torque score means that if Sharma goes down early, it will cause fewer dents in the side than it normally does. But the fun comes when you go big, because then the size of the field becomes irrelevant and you can propel your team to a total of Wankhede in Abu Dhabi.
The boundaries of the plaza in Abu Dhabi are the longest, and the Knight Riders tried to get the Mumbai Indian batsmen to target them by taking to the field, but it was a ploy gone wrong. Sharma faced 20 short or long balls and smoked them for 49 runs. Sharma’s own bowlers later successfully implemented the short ball strategy for Knight Riders batsmen, but they had considerably more energy.
What Sharma’s innings, and subsequent bowling by the trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson demonstrated, was how different the same strategy could play out given who the bowlers and batters were. With Sharma, the lord of the shooting shot: “I stand behind to play that shot. I’m pretty sure I play it, I love to play it and practice it a bit,” I would tell host broadcaster Star later, the margin of error in length, direction and pace are much less.
What that means is that Sharma will play the majority of his games on a field that historically hasn’t been a high-scoring field, giving him more leeway early in an inning. And that the hardest hitting areas on the ground are more accessible to him than most. If ever there was a time to ignore below-average IPL returns of the past three years, it is now.
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