IPL 2019 Time Machine: Power Player Edition

Cricket has flirted with becoming a squad game before. ODIs between July 2005 and February 2006 were played under the Super Sub rule, where teams were able to name a 12th player before the toss and substitute them in for the second innings. But this regulation was rather unloved, often unused, and died an unmourned death.

But something like it lives, or may soon live, in the form of the Power Player - a mechanism whereby playing XIs will be replaced by matchday squads of 15, and teams will be able to make substitutions throughout the game at the fall of a wicket or at the end of the over. It’s still under discussion, and the details have yet to be worked out (How many substitutes can a team make? Can a substituted player rejoin the game? Can a player who has yet to bat or bowl be substituted? How will the overseas player regulations be affected?), but it’s a much more interesting idea than its late unlamented predecessor.

The IPL Governing Council have put the Power Player’s introduction on hold for at least a year, quite sensibly citing insufficient time to trial it at state level. But let’s have some speculative fun, eh? Let’s have a look at how last year’s IPL franchises could have used it to improve their fortunes. Would Chennai Super Kings have snuck past Mumbai Indians in the final? Would Kolkata Knight Riders have maintained their early momentum? Would Royal Challengers Bangalore have been in any way good? (Ed: Hahahaha.)

Methodology: I’ve looked at the 15 players that each franchise used most over the 2019 IPL season, and come up with scenarios in which the Power Play could be of use to maximise the talents of those 15.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS - Runners-up; 2nd in the league stage

Most used 15:
Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings

Problems:
- Key players who must be hidden in the field - especially Watson and Tahir
- Extreme bowling specialisation - Chahar in the Powerplay, spinners in the middle, Bravo at the death
- Lack of power in the batting

Solutions:
- Open with Watson and Vijay - once one of them is out, replace with du Plessis who is one of the world’s best fielders and can add batting depth if needed
- Once Tahir has bowled out, replace with Billings - if fielding first, the batting is thus lengthened, and if fielding second the fielding is substantially improved
- Chahar often bowls his four overs straight through at the beginning of the innings - once he’s finished his four, replace him with whichever spinner is sitting out, or the best available fielder.

DELHI CAPITALS - Playoffs, lost in Qualifier 2; finished 3rd in league stage

Most used 15: Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Colin Ingram, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Chris Morris, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Sandeep Lamichhane, Rahul Tewatia, Trent Boult

Problems:
- Adjusting to slower pitches - won 4, lost 3 on the sluggish Delhi pitch
- Very top-heavy batting
- Light on fast bowlers in most XIs

Solutions:
- Move Ingram into the top 3 - if he gets out early, replace with bowling all-rounder
- If bowling first, once the first spinner bowls out, replace with Rutherford
- If batting first, once Shaw gets out, replace with fast-bowling all-rounder (Paul or Morris) or fast bowler (Boult or Ishant)

KINGS XI PUNJAB - Finished 6th in league stage

Most used 15: KL Rahul, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, M Ashwin, Sam Curran, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Hardus Viljoen, Andrew Tye, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot

Problems:
- Struggled with the ball in the Powerplay
- Too cautious at times with the bat in the Powerplay
- Lacked a true death bowler

Solutions:
- Bowl Mujeeb out early in the innings, then replace with another bowler (if bowling first, Curran; if bowling second, Hardus Viljoen)
- If batting first, replace Gayle with Curran once the former gets out, and send in Curran to bat at the death
- If bowling first, replace Shami with Gayle once the former bowls out

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS - Finished 5th in league stage

Most used 15: Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik, Chris Lynn, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Sunil Narine, M Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Harry Gurney, Rinku Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Sandeep Warrier, Prithvi Raj

Problems:
- Over-reliant on spin
- Late overs batting over-reliant on Andre Russell
- Couldn’t fit enough fast bowlers into the XI

Solutions:
- Bowl Ferguson out early, and replace with Gurney for the death overs
- Bowl Chawla or Kuldeep out in the first 10 overs, replace with Warrier (or, if chasing, Narine)
- Have Uthappa come in at 3 and go hard - if he gets out early, replace with Rana (this works whether batting or bowling first, as Rana can bowl a few overs)

MUMBAI INDIANS - Champions; finished 1st in league stage

Most used 15: Hardik Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga, Ishan Kishan, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jason Behrendorff, Yuvraj Singh, Evin Lewis, Alzarri Joseph, Barinder Sran

Problems:
- Struggled in the middle overs with the bat
- Bowling inconsistent
- Solid but not explosive with the bat in the Powerplay

Solutions:
- If batting first, open with Yuvraj as a pinch-hitter, then replace with bowling all-rounder like Krunal or Chahar (using Rohit at 4 or 5 to strengthen middle order)
- Swap Malinga with Lewis - so Malinga is in bowling XI only and Lewis in batting XI only, again moving Rohit down the order to strengthen MI in the middle overs
- Use McClenaghan as Powerplay specialist, then replace with Malinga as death overs specialist

RAJASTHAN ROYALS - Finished 7th in league stage

Most used 15: Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Gopal, Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Rahul Tripathi, Stuart Binny, Riyan Parag, Krishnappa Gowtham, Varun Aaron, Liam Livingstone

Problems:
- Too slow in the middle overs with the bat
- Couldn’t control or take wickets with the ball in the middle overs
- Expensive at the death with the ball

Solutions:
- Push Samson into the top 3, and if he gets out early replace with Livingstone
- Bowl Unadkat out early, then replace with Binny (if bowling first) or Kulkarni (if bowling second)
- Use Gowtham as pinch-hitting opener; swap him for Gopal if bowling second, or Tripathi if batting second

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE - Finished 8th in league stage

Most used 15: Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Navdeep Saini, Moeen Ali, Umesh Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Mohammed Siraj, Akshdeep Nath, Pawan Negi, Shimron Hetmyer, Colin de Grandhomme, Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh

Problems:
- Worst pace attack in the league
- One-dimensional with the bat: able to hit fast bowlers around in the Powerplay, struggled with the field out and against spin
- Under-used their strength, which was spin bowling

Solutions:
- Use Umesh at the top of the innings only - once bowled out, replace with Negi (this works whether batting or bowling first)
- Use Hetmyer as pinch-hitter; once out, replace with Negi or Moeen
- Bowl Moeen in the middle overs; once bowled out, replace with Stoinis (again, this works whether batting or bowling first)

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD - Playoffs, knocked out in Eliminator; finished 4th in league stage

Most used 15: Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, David Warner, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Sandeep Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Yusuf Pathan, Kane Williamson, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammad Nabi, Siddarth Kaul, Wriddhiman Saha, Martin Guptill

Problems:
- Top-heavy batting - over-reliant on Bairstow and Warner, struggled after the Powerplay
- Expensive with the ball at the death
- Unable to fit enough all-rounders into the XI

Solutions:
- If batting first, once Warner is out replace with Nabi
- If bowling first, bowl Rashid in the early and middle overs; once bowled out, replace with Nabi and bowl him at the death
- Bowl Sandeep out in the Powerplay, then replace with Kaul

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Now, let’s all put down the flux capacitor and step away from the DeLorean…