The Punjab Punjab Kings XI have played four games so far at IPL 2020, with just one win to show. In their Super-Over loss to the Delhi Capitals in their opener, Chris Jordan leaked 30 runs in the last over of the first inning in regulation time. In his loss to the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, Sheldon Cottrell went 30 on 18 when Rahul Tewatia managed an all-ages jailbreak.
In their most recent loss to the Mumbai Indians on Thursday, it looked like the Kings XI didn’t even have a death bowling plan. All-rounder James Neesham gave away 40 in the 16th and 18th of innings, while supporting player K Gowtham, who stayed to pitch the 20th off Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya, conceded 25.
These are still the early days of the season, but their economy of 16 dead, the worst among the eight teams, is a concern for the Kings XI. Here is a summary of the options available for Kings XI to address this issue.
Replace Neesham with Chris Jordan or Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Sure, Chris Jordan repeatedly failed against the Capitals, but he’s the only genuine death bowler on the Kings XI side. It is because of his bowling death that the Kings X bought him for INR 1 crore at the 2019 auction. The yorker is probably the hardest delivery to execute – if you overpitch, it comes out as a full pitch. If you throw it, it becomes a half volley. Other factors like spray and shorter limits could also thwart your better-designed plans. Jordan brings with him that ability to catch Yorkers. According to ball-for-ball data from ESPNcricinfo, since the 2016 T20 World Cup, he has hit the block 77 times, giving away 56 runs and taking eight wickets. Only Dwayne Bravo and Jasprit Bumrah have pitched more yorkers than Jordan in this period in T20 cricket. And only Bumrah (nine) has captured more land with the yorker than he has in this period.
Jordan is also an excellent fielder, from his own bowling alley, in the infield and even in the outfield. Besides, you can also get great results in the lower order. If the Kings XI are going to call Jordan, then they might have to leave out Neesham, who can be effective with his leg cutters in the middle, but has traveled to work in this IPL as well as recent CPL.
Jordan also has the experience of having met to death on the subcontinent although it was more than four years ago, in the T20 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Delhi. He pitched the deviant Yorkers and conceded just 12 runs in two overs on death and also fired Ross Taylor. Most recently, in November 2019, he defended 17 in the Super Over with his variations to lead England to victory against the same opponents. It would be easy to defend seventeen runs on most other terrains, but not so easy at Eden Park.
The Kings XI could also consider replacing Neesham with Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The Afghanistan spinner, who can spin the ball both ways, was the second-biggest wicket catcher at CPL 2020 and is second in the ICC T20I rankings. He pitched in the power play for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL, but he can pitch in the middle and also get the job done on death.
In total, Mujeeb has thrown 36 overs on the kill in T20 cricket, claiming 21 wickets with an economy of 8.11. However, when this economy dies in the IPL it shoots up to 12.42, but the sample size is smaller (seven overshoots).
Picking Mujeeb or Neesham could leave Kings XI thin on the batting front. Or are they bold enough to clear Mujeeb’s X factor and back their starters Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell and Sarfaraz Khan to lead the batting? If they need more power in the middle order to accommodate Mujeeb, Deepak Hooda or Mandeep Singh could try it in place of Karun Nair, whose hitting is more suited to anchoring an inning at the top than finishing it.
Bring Ishan Porel or Arshdeep Singh
Standouts Ishan Porel and Arshdeep Singh are left field options for the Kings XI. If they want to pick Mujeeb over Neesham and add an extra closer to the attack at the expense of Gowtham or M Ashwin, Porel or Singh could enter.
Porel, who was part of the 2018 U-19 World Cup winning team, has now increased his pace to 140 km / h. The right arm quickly opened the attack for India A in the one-dayers in New Zealand, but it is unproven in T20 cricket. Will Kings XI make the difficult decision to ask him to play death in his IPL debut?
Singh is not as fast as Porel but offers variety for the left arm. Do the Kings XI really need another left arm closer when they already have Cottrell in the XI? Also, Singh has not played top-level T20 cricket since IPL 2019.
Get a kick at Hardus Viljoen
Another overseas left field option is the fast South African Hardus Viljoen, who is a T20 and T10 globetrotter. In his day, Viljoen can run his yorkers and he also has a slower dipper that has been dominated by the likes of Bravo and Lasith Malinga. In Abu Dhabi’s T10 league in 2018-19, Viljoen had topped the terrain charts with 18 strikes with an economy of 7.77.
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