It's very difficult to go with the same eleven every time, says RCB coach Ashish Nehra

Recently, we witnessed the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lose yet another Indian Premier League (IPL) game in the season of 2019 as the Rajasthan Royals emerged victorious on Tuesday. It was the fourth consecutive defeat for the Virat Kohli-led RCB side and it has led to major apprehensions for the franchise. But most teams in the 12th edition of the IPL so far have disappointed heavily. 

In this light, it is evident that besides all kinds of factors in the IPL so far, the factor that has affected the teams most heavily is the constant shuffle of the batting order. The uncertainty of a batsman’s cemented position in the line-up is something that didn’t go down well with the fans. However, former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra, believes those slight adjustments are inevitable in the fast-moving Indian Premier League.

Nehra, as quoted by Cricbuzz, pointed out that barring the Sunrisers who have the likes of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow in their arsenal, every other team in this of the IPL have very unsettled batting orders. “If you look at any franchise, there will be hardly one or two sides which have the likes of Bairstow and Warner who are in good nick and they are openers too. And if you look at the other teams, the batting order keeps shuffling. I have seen KKR where Nitish Rana did well at the top and they have changed that slot in the next game,” Nehra said.

You have to be on top of your game, says Nehra

The former fast bowler raised the case of many franchises including the Mumbai Indians wherein he pointed out that the skipper Rohit Sharma often chooses not to open the batting for Mumbai. “And like we have seen many times with Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma doesn’t open the batting.

This is such a fast-paced game where you might lose a couple of games here and there and you have to think what those little alterations could be done. It’s very difficult to go with the same eleven every time. If you see, Harbhajan (Singh) was the Man of the Match in the first game and he didn’t get to play the third game which was also at the same venue (Chepauk).”

Pressing that the format of the IPL requires a “need of the hour” kind adjustments, Nehra concluding by saying: “You have to be on top of your game, There will be a few games where you play well and still end up on the losing side, and at the same time there will be games where you don’t really perform upto the mark and still end up winning.”

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