The debate over the role of anchors in T20 was strong before the start of the 2020 IPL, and this edition in the UAE has provided more grind for the mill.
To answer the question of whether we need an anchor in T20 cricket, we must start by defining the anchor objectively, as attack rates will change based on what is normal for the field in any given field. In my opinion, an anchor is primarily a first-order hitter who plays 30-40% of total deliveries and scores at a strike rate of 20-30 runs per hundred balls less than the total strike rate of innings. . So if the team has achieved a cumulative hit rate of 160 runs per hundred balls, the anchor will go roughly 130-140. It could be part of the plan or a problem.
In this IPL we have seen quite a few starters go radically slower than their teammates. Shubman Gill, Aaron Finch, Shikhar Dhawan, Devdutt Padikkal, David Warner, and lately KL Rahul could qualify under our definition of anchor. It should be noted that most of these “anchor” entries are scanned in the early innings of matches; second innings go their own way depending on the score posted by the team that hit first.
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Let’s look at the possible reasons many of these players, some of whom could be extremely destructive in their day, are playing this role now.
All said and done, the pitches at this IPL have produced high scores most of the time. Sharjah has been like Wankhede or Chinnaswamy stadiums, Dubai started slowly but soon began to host high-scoring games, and while the field in Abu Dhabi has proven to be the most difficult for hitters, it has also not handed out 130-140 scores.
In fact, after 28 league games, the average first-inning score of 181 this year is the highest of all IPL seasons. Teams hitting first average up to 36.59 runs per window; In none of the past 12 seasons did the teams that hit first averaged more than 30. While this indicates that the surfaces are batting-friendly, it also tells hitters that they are being more cautious in their approach. That’s borne out by the fact that the number of wickets lost in the first 16 overs of the first innings is the lowest this season, and the batting average of the first 16 overs (in the first innings) is 39.5 this year. , the highest of all IPLs.
This clearly indicates that the teams have decided to hold onto their grounds until the start of the death overs. Now this strategy could have come about because in the early games we saw wickets fall in piles in powerplay overs, which is never a good thing in T20 cricket. There is a rule of thumb in T20 cricket that says if you lose more than two wickets in the power game, your chances of victory are significantly reduced. In this IPL, the average number of balls faced by starters is the highest ever, and while the percentage of point balls is the lowest, the number of balls per limit is the second poorest of all seasons. The trend is to occupy the fold, rotate the strike, and not take unnecessary risks to hit the limits.
While the role of anchors has been consolidated in this IPL, another trend has begun to develop in parallel: the last four overs have produced more runs than the last four overs in any other year in tournament history, averaging of 11.53 races. for more (going up to 12.3 if only the first entries are considered).
This could be because teams have more land in the shed, or because of the overall quality of the skittles on display, or maybe a little bit of both. Except for the Indians of Mumbai and the capitals of Delhi, no team can boast of an attack that forces the opposition to take risks early in the innings. Against these two teams, being conservative in the first 16 overs could backfire as it would find you with players like Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, and Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson in the kill. The lack of high quality in the bowling department for the remaining teams encourages opposition hitters to bide their time and take a chance at the end.
The extra bounce in the UAE, compared to pitches in India, makes it difficult for hitters to go very hard when the ball is new, but the same extra bounce comes to their aid during the last four overs, when bowlers are trying to find the hole. In many fields in India, the margin of error for Yorker attempts is slightly higher than what we have seen in the UAE.
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