Something that has emerged as an essential reason for a team’s victory has been an aggressive start. Want to break the back of a relatively simple 150-odd chase so that you snatch the game from the get-go? The openers take the bowlers to the cleaners, even when they can take their time. Defending a 130-odd target on a sluggish wicket? Go all out with aggressive field sets and bowling to extract early wickets, even if it costs some runs. These aren’t just hypotheticals, but concrete approaches that teams have used successfully. I can list several situations where teams have chosen this aggressive mindset, but the essence of it is that teams risk it all for an early advantage, now more than ever. The risk is incredibly high, and one bad move could derail the match away from your control. So why do teams do it, and why is it the right way?
New brand of Cricket
This is the new generation of cricket. The fight is not to sniff out victory, but to dominate proceedings. This season of the IPL has been no less, putting this mindset on full display, and the teams that subscribe to this idea often find themselves on the winning side. Take Chennai Super Kings- they found themselves in comfortable positions in a chase because Rachin Ravindra started off every inning like he was chasing 350. He dismantled the target and all that the other batters had to do was walk the team to the finish line. In the same stride, CSK found themselves in trouble back-to-back when Rachin failed to provide them with that platform, succumbing to the pressures of the NRR, something they didn’t have to worry about.
Attack, Attack, Attack
The traditional method has always been to take the game deep, as deep as a player can- anchor the ship steadily, and fire when necessary. This is a tried-and-tested, effective method that remains relevant to many situations, and has been used expertly by the likes of Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul among others. But the game has seen advents of fast-paced that players ten years ago wouldn’t have dreamed of. Take the MI vs SRH match. SRH started off with the mindset of clearing the boundary and nothing else. Not once did they look to settle- after all, they had a massive total, now they didn’t need to take risks right? Not for them, they didn’t stop until they ran out of balls to hit. But what’s even more interesting is MI”s approach. They attacked the game head-on, with the belief that they could chase it down, and who wouldn’t be scared with intent like that? That’s what a good start does. It breaks opposition hopes, and it instils fear. And it has become a favourite for many teams and players, who prefer it over the traditional method.
Why do teams in any situation pick this strategy?
But the SRH MI match was a forced situation for MI where they had to be aggressive. What about the recent SRH vs CSK match? SRH were chasing a modest 165, but Chennai being the spirited team they are would’ve come out looking to fight tooth and nail. But out came Abhishek Sharma with the intent of aggression, and sunk CSK’s ship of hope. It is so incredibly difficult to come back into a match when the opposition is looking at a run-a-ball chase. And that’s what happened, CSK faltered. And this is the best way to understand the multifaceted and deadly effect of an aggressive start. It may be the reason we aren’t seeing as many close matches in the IPL. Teams are trying to grab the game by its neck, and one will triumphantly prevail while the other will perish, leaving a one-sided contest. And the start dictates the rest of the game
Not all sunshine and rainbows
A weapon so deadly often comes in a double-edged form. A failure to dominate could result in a flip of momentum where a team has gifted a position of dominance to their opponent; even when they weren’t aiming for the jugular, the aggressor presented it to them. Take the case of RCB, particularly Alzarri Joseph, who would try to attack the batsman with a bouncer straight-up. Now, this could’ve worked to put them in a dominant position with wickets up front, but instead, it allowed batsmen to attack, even when they weren’t looking to. And aggression saw the game slip away from them before it even began.
An aggressive start can be destructive in its power. It is the future of a new generation of fearless cricket and something that teams will look to do. It may not guarantee victory, and could even backfire, but it gives them a very good chance of being dominantly ahead in a game, and most teams right now would take that opportunity any day. Explosive batsmen at the top, and aggressive pacers in the beginning, they’re all there for a reason. And the battle is what we’re here for.
