Knight Riders traverse a new shift in paradigm

Kolkata Knight Riders' death bowling had been questioned already in this tournament but when Jacques Kallis came out to speak to the media, following his team's maiden loss at home this season, he brushed away any major chink in their armour. "We don't become a bad bowling unit after just one game," he had said after his team had failed to defend 187 against Gujarat Lions. Call that audacity or overconfidence but the head coach felt that his bowlers were in the right space and had the right plans to make a comeback.

A day later, bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji turned up to address the media on the eve of Sunday's clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore, and as if to validate with numbers that Kallis had said the previous day, the former India pacer banked on pertinent figures to add more weight. "We have reached nearly 40 wickets, if you compare it with other teams. See, it is about wickets, don't go by runs because as a bowler, your game destination is decided by the number of wickets. You may bowl a couple of maidens, but wickets are a very important aspect for the bowler," he said while not sounding too bothered by their bowling at the death.

History has it that KKR have been a spin-reliant team that falls back on the slow turning track that the Eden Gardens offer. That coincided with the emergence of Sunil Narine - the IPL giant, around whom Brad Hogg, Piyush Chawla, Shakib Al Hasan, Kuldeep Yadav rallied around. This year though, the Sujan Mukherjee-prepared wicket has adopted a fresh avatar, one that has pace and sprightly bounce and it wasn't any surprise when KKR gunned for overseas pace firepower at this year's auction by picking Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Trent Boult.

Before this game, the highest economy rate was ten an over, with the lowest being 8.59. Post the contest against RCB, not just all the wickets to have gone down were picked up by the pacers but their economy rates had come down sharply too. Having lost a bad toss, KKR were not fortunate to cash in on the early moisture on the surface that came through due to a 30-minute rain intervention. But when they came out to defend only 131, their pacers hit the top note right from the word go and never let RCB get into the game.

Out of the 47 wickets picked up thus far by KKR this season, 34 have been picked up by the pacers and although they drew flak for their insipid show against the Daredevils and the Lions more recently, the pacers have scripted a strong turnaround. Nathan Coulter-Nile had already impressed once with his Man of the Match winning performance against Daredevils, but his stellar show counted for more when he bagged the wickets of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers early to dent the run-chase on Sunday (April 23). KKR though had been murmuring a silent prayer all this while, to see Woakes bowl at full brim and produce results.

Woakes, seen as a replacement for Andre Russell, had been among the wickets but these three wickets in an effort to bowl out RCB for the lowest-ever total in the IPL, could give him the much-needed kick. The Englishman wasn't battled for much on the auction table, and was seen as a sharp move by the KKR. Having played all his cricket in England, Woakes is used to hitting the three-quarter lengths and on the present Eden surface, that length worked.

"That length, back of a length, that top of the stumps length was perfect on this wicket today. Coults [Coulter-Nile] and Umesh [Yadav] got the ball to swing upfront but when I came on, it didn't really swing but there was just a little bit of movement off that length. If you are hitting that line, it puts the batsmen under pressure, especially when wickets are falling around them," Woakes said at the end of the match.

However, it would be wrong to say that KKR don't use their strong arm - spin bowling, much. Although, they have picked up just 13 scalps, their economy rates have been way better than the pacers.

KKR, throughout this season, have thrived on surprises and have mostly masked their loopholes well. From experimenting with Sunil Narine at the top of the batting order to going pace heavy needed some guts, and it paid off big time as well. On a turf that would assist the pacers, Gautam Gambhir backed himself to load the team with four seam-up options at the cost of dropping a spin-bowling all-rounder in the form of Shakib Al Hasan. Such moves have their own repercussions because with one bowler going for runs, it could mean that they don't have enough variety to bank on. But as they say, fortune favours the brave and Gambhir's move survived.

What this win did to KKR is not just consolidate their position in the points table at the second spot, but also added a new dimension to their line-up, something that they must have desired for a long time. One must credit the Knight Riders for having embraced the new conditions well and once again proving that this tournament is all about adapting quickly.

Like Balaji had mentioned, "We have all quality bowlers. It's about adaptation and coming good on that day. So in that aspect, I think, we have done really well. We will definitely improve in the couple of areas we have found out, the boys are up for it.

"The tournament is six-week long, so you slowly educate yourself for the next phase, i.e the powerplays and death overs," Balaji added. It's hard to believe that Eden isn't keeping low or turning square, even harder to believe that KKR are consciously putting a lot of weight behind their pace battery but what has come out the best is the ready shift in approach. Post this massive win, KKR have now become a far more formidable side, with a slow shift in paradigm from turn to pace on the wicket, and the guts with which they back their decisions.

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