Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
‘You can’t take a conservative approach in T20’: Anil Kumble
Head coach Anil Kumble talks about the change and how he used data to build team strategy.
Yet to win an IPL title, Punjab Kings went in for a squad overhaul this time and are looking much more rounded. Head coach Anil Kumble talks about the change and how he used data to build team strategy.
Excerpts…
Q. Punjab Kings has quite a line-up of power-hitters in Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Shah Rukh Khan, Odene Smith. Was that the missing link that you were after?
A. This was the first opportunity I had to be at a mega auction. We certainly had a strategy in place and wanted to go after players who we believed, fitted easily in the format. That’s the sort of cricket we wanted to play and we went searching for those players. We were glad that we were able to put together a reasonably good squad.
Q. What were the broad parameters you outlined before the auction?
A. We needed flexibility. We needed players with a secondary skill. That’s the approach we took. Because with the retention, the choice is not necessarily the franchises’ decision, it is the player’s decision. That’s what the rules are. Once we retained Mayank (Agarwal) and Arshdeep (Singh), we wanted to build a team where we could make the bowling strong. When I say strong bowling, we wanted young bowlers, with enough experience to give us the comfort of having a young bowling attack…You look at a Rabada, Arshdeep, Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar as your four main bowlers, and Odean Smith—he is someone who can bowl a heavy ball. Those are the kind of options we wanted. In Liam Livingstone, we have the flexibility of getting in some spin.
Q. With the batting depth you have, will your openers have more of a license to go hard? Because with KL Rahul, one felt he had to be restrained because of those reasons.
A. No, I don’t think we ever wanted any player to restrain himself. In this format, I don’t think you can take a conservative approach. The natural ability of a Mayank or a Shikhar (Dhawan) is to attack. Even with the rest of the players, I don’t think there will be any approach to curb their natural instincts. That has never been my approach at all.
Q. What constitutes good data for you and how do you use it in team strategy?
A. Rajgopal Sankar (cricket consultant) has been with me for the last two years. We got him for his ability, understanding of the game and data that he has access to. He goes pretty deep in analysis. Dan Weston (analyst on the County circuit and The Hundred) came in on Sankar’s recommendation only for the auction as we wanted someone who can bring in an independent approach to our thinking. I use a lot of data. We put a strategy in place and look at players who fit into it. That’s exactly how we went about not just picking the known players but even some of the domestic players, where we did some depth charts. Sankar worked on that over two months leading up to the auction. At the table, it is always a challenge to get who you want. We were happy that more or less we got who we wanted.
Q. A lot of capped Indian wrist-spinners didn’t go for big bids while Wanindu Hasaranga and Rahul Tewatia earned more. Does that indicate that a multi-skilled spinner is more valuable than a standalone wrist spinner?
A. You definitely need a secondary skill. But it (auction value) also depends on where exactly you are positioned. The auction is very tricky. Even within a set, where you come out matters. So, you can’t pin point suggesting that (they went for low price) because their primary skill is bowling and not much with batting. Yes, people also look for secondary skills. But it all depends upon the strategy that each team has. You can’t have all 11 players with multiple skills. You certainly need some exceptional bowlers and the names you took are all quality bowlers.
Q. Do you have a lot more confidence to chase the title?
A. It’s a fresh start for all the 10 franchises. I think the brand of cricket we wanted to play; we have put together that sort of strategy. We are very happy to be able to get those kinds of players who naturally fit into that strategy rather than force somebody into playing that kind of a role. We looked at strategies to help us achieve the right result. Even when we picked the domestic players, we looked at the roles they could play and that clarity is very important in T20’s. At the end, you don’t just put together a squad for this year. You invest in a few players who will perhaps be the future.
