By Sabyasachi ChowdhuryLucknow Super Giants (LSG) are in with a massive headache, although a happy one. Quinton de Kock didn’t take part in their first two Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches, against Delhi Capitals (DC) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). De Kock played in the ODI series against the Netherlands, which was ever so crucial for South Africa to directly qualify for the World Cup to be played in India.
During De Kock’s absence, LSG used Kyle Mayers as a makeshift opener. Mayers was with LSG in 2022 as well, but didn’t get to play since de Kock was available for the entire season and opened along with KL Rahul. Mayers made his IPL debut against the Capitals and must have known that his place in the team was secure only until de Kock’s return.
De Kock’s international assignment is over and he is set to join the Super Giants. LSG are next set to play on Friday, April 7 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and in the next three days, they have quite a bit of thinking to do.
Mayers has scored 126 runs at an average of 63 with half-centuries in both matches, but that’s not the most important part. The southpaw has played at a strike-rate of 210, taking his team to flying starts both times against CSK and DC.
Will De Kock play in place of Mayers?
Leaving out an in-form batter like Mayers to accommodate de Kock will be foolish, isn’t it? There are more options. The Super Giants can try to include both Mayers and de Kock in the playing eleven. But at whose cost? Mark Wood secured his place in the team after his maiden IPL five-wicket haul.
If both Mayers and De Kock play, the axe is likely to come down on Marcus Stoinis, who himself, hasn’t been overly poor, but hasn’t been outstanding either. Mayers can also bowl handy medium pace, similar to Stoinis.
There’s more riddle to be solved for LSG. They can only choose two among Rahul, De Kock and Mayers as their openers. Just like dropping Mayers for de Kock may not be a smart decision, sending the former down the order at a time when he is settled as an opener shouldn’t be the best of moves.
Moreover, Mayers has tasted the majority of his T20 success while batting in the top order. Demoting him may put a dent in his confidence. While there is a chance of both Mayers and de Kock taking the field on Friday, the question is, if Mayers opens the batting, who should be his partner – Rahul or De Kock?
De Kock has negligible experience of batting in the middle and depriving him of his opening position may back-fire big time. However, LSG have an option wherein Rahul bats at No.3 if not lower. Rahul started his IPL career as a middle-order batter and also played in the middle for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Rahul has also batted in the middle-order for Team India, albeit mostly in ODIs. Back in 2018, Rohit Sharma demoted himself to No.4 in the very season when Suryakumar Yadav started flourishing in his career.
Is Rahul batting in the middle-order an option for LSG?
Can Rahul go down the order if both De Kock and Mayers play? Last year, De Kock smashed a hundred for the Super Giants while opening the batting against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Keeping in mind that de Kock has tasted immense success, both for the Proteas and LSG, he will be hard done by if he is sent down the order.
Hence, if someone has to bat down the order, it’s Rahul, who has to take the tough call to not disrupt any momentum for LSG in IPL 2023.
The Super Giants have one more option. They can choose not to change their eleven from their previous game against CSK.
Either way, the Super Giants have to take some tricky calls going into their next game. Even as Mayers shouldn’t have worries regarding his position in the batting lineup, Stoinis should. Is Rahul ready to sacrifice his opener’s slot?
CSK lost their previous game against CSK by 12 runs and can’t afford to make calls that might disturb the settled part of their team combination.
Emanuel Schmitt
Benny Borer
Julian Marks