The Chepauk pitch has been a real troublemaker for the batsmen so far in the IPL 2021. RCB is the only team to pull off a successful chase at the southern venue so far in this year’s IPL. And that is only because of an out-of-the-world inning from the one and only AB de Villiers. After three-run chase chokes, batting on this venue has become an unanswered question. So, what can a Batsman do to succeed on a curse of pitch? To answer that, we took a few notes from AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, and Pollards’ innings and listed five things that might help Batsmen while batting on the slow Chepauk pitch.
Things that might help Batsmen tackle the tough Chepauk Pitch?
#1 Pick your balls:
Blind slogging doesn’t work on pitches like Chepauk, and with longer boundaries, one might only clear the rope one out of twenty times. So how to keep the scoreboard moving? The answer is by selecting weak deliveries to go big and respecting the good ones. And by going big still doesn’t mean blind slogging. Playing according to the field is a must on such pitches. A Batsman will have to pick his balls and the field holes he wants to target if a bowler misses his pitching. One will surely score much quicker on such a surface if he focuses more on his basics and placement than hitting everything in the air.
#2 Minimize dot balls:
Playing dot balls in a format like T20 always builds up pressure. So, one should look to keep the scoreboard ticking if the bowler is hitting the right areas on a pitch like Chepauk. To do that more often, a batsman needs to be quick between the wickets and should always be on the lookout to steal a run on every fielding errors. However, the Batsman should always avoid taking risky runs, as a single wicket on such pitches can push you out of the game.
Doubles are highly underrated on such pitches. If a Batsman cannot find boundaries, he can try to put pressure on the opposition side by trying for doubles more often. If he can take two doubles in an over, along with four singles, he will still reap eight runs from it.
#3 Put a price tag on your wicket:
If a Batsman settles in the middle, he becomes crucial for his team’s success on such a pitch. So, every Batsman who has spent some time in the middle should avoid getting out by playing rash shots and look to take the match deep. This can be achieved by targeting gaps while keeping the ball grounded or chipping the infield to target an empty area in the outfield while batting in the slog overs. This is exactly what Glenn Maxwell did against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He tried not to lose his wicket and targeted empty areas in the field while hitting the ball in the air.
#4 Try to make good use of Powerplay:
A good start to a team’s innings can push them far ahead in the game on a pitch like Chepauk. So, the openers should look to provide, if not good, a decent start to their teams without taking too much risk. Good deliveries shall always be respected, while loose deliveries must be punished in a format like T20. It’s that simple in a powerplay as well. The Batsmen should try to stick to the basics by watching the ball till the end, letting it come to them, and try to pierce the gaps or chip over the infield.
#5 Avoid making double-minded decisions:
The biggest reason behind rash shots is the double-mindedness of a batsman and the thousand thoughts that go through his mind due to pressure. So, a batter should take his time to assess the field, calm himself and be clear in his mind about what he wants to do before taking his stance. It’s always about what one needs to do than what one wants to do in cricket. Reading the situation and coming up with an optimal solution in that situation is a skill that makes a batsman good at his job.
These five are pretty basic but important things that help a Batsman while batting on a difficult wicket. Let’s see which teams look back at these five aspects to answer the questions asked by the Chepauk pitch in the upcoming matches.
