Rotation policy is the way to go

It is too early to start looking seriously at the league table with just two points separating the first team from the seventh as I write. It's also far too early to start counting the wins and losses, writes Jacques Kallis.

It is too early to start looking seriously at the league table with just two points separating the first team from the seventh as I write. It's also far too early to start counting the wins and losses. The tournament has barely started.

Having said that, we’d obviously prefer to have won more than two out of five games, and the last match was particularly frustrating because it was a game we should have won. Often, in close games like that one, the temptation is to look for the 'missing' two runs. Where did we 'lose' them?

KKR-cricketers-Manvinder-Bisla-R-and-Jacques-Kallis-talk-during-the-Champions-League-Twenty20-qualifying-cricket-pool-match-between-Kolkata-Knight-Riders-and-Auckland-Aces-at-the-Rajiv-Gandhi-International-Stadium-in-Hyderabad

However, it's rarely that simple. The game may have gone to the final over but, in most cases, there are opportunities to win it before that. Most successful teams base their success on paying attention to the small details and making certain they get the process right. We haven't got it quite right yet.

Player rotation
Another issue I have spoken about plenty of times in previous editions of the IPL is that of squad rotation and getting the balance right between selecting your most in-form XI and resting the key players and keeping them fresh.

Early victories in the tournament give teams the opportunity to rest key players, while those teams which find themselves chasing the pack in the early weeks, feel the pressure to pick their most prominent match-winners in every game. Which is why it is important for us to win today.

Playing back-to-back matches against the Kings XI gives us an immediate opportunity to make amends for the loss three days ago.

The writer plays for KKR

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