February 10, 2018

Cricket Team Preview | HS16

Biyas Muhammed writes on the prospects of the second year (HS16) team for the forthcoming Prem Ranjan Memorial Cricket Tournament.

HS16 : A TEAM LET DOWN BY INCONSISTENT BOWLING

Captain: Libin John

In the last year’s Prem Ranjan Tournament, the run rate conceded by the HS16 team reads 13.62 in contrast to the tournament run rate of 11.01. Also, the average extras conceded by HS16 (2.39 per over) is the highest for any team in the 2017 tournament. These figures shed light into the most important area which the HS16 needs to address coming into the 2018 tournament : Bowling.

LAST YEAR’S STORY: SEMI-FINALISTS

HS16’s journey began with a disappointing bowling performance against the defending champions HS14, giving away 151 runs in 8 overs. Short pitch balls at a very comfortable pace, full tosses, no balls, wides, and byes: their bowlers did everything which they shouldn’t be doing. Thanks to a fantastic cameo from Athul Muraleedharan and little contributions from his fellow batsmen, they made a decent 93/7 in reply. The match was lost by a huge margin, but the team did show that they have the potential to put up a fight.

Their second match turned out to be a knockout as their opponents, HS 15, too were defeated in their first match. With a terrific opening spell from Aswin ably supported by Avinash’s leg spin, HS16’s top order (Sai, Libin, and Athul) collapsed, just adding 6 runs amongst them. What followed was a fantastic counter-attacking knock from Arvind under pressure which took the match away from HS15. The target of 108 turned out to be too much for HS15 as Aswin was run out by Susmit after a sparkling start to the innings. HS16 qualifies to the Semis.

In the Semi-Final against Ph.D. scholars, after a good start by the openers, HS16 met with another batting collapse resulting in a below-par score of 87 in 10 overs. Their bowlers, once again made it easy for the opposition giving away 88 runs in 6.1 overs. Thus, HS16’s journey in Prem Ranjan Tournament 2017 started off and ended with dismal bowling performances.

THE TEAM

HS16 is one of the few teams in the department which bat deep. Athul, Sai and Libin are the regular top order batsmen with Arvind, Susmit and Gokul constituting the middle order. They would ideally want one among the top three to fire in every innings and bat through the innings to take them to a safe total.

A lead bowling trio consisting of Savio, Libin and Athul have the potential to excel, but have failed to do so. Despite bowling at a decent pace, lack of control has badly hurt this bowling attack. It would be interesting to see if the team would be looking at other bowling options like Susmit, Gokul and Tenzing among others.

Sai Chandan Kotu would probably be the wicket keeper. As suggested by the extras, a lot of runs seem to be given away behind the wicket and this is one area the team must be looking to improve. On the fielding front, Athul Muraleedharan stands out with his clean and risk free catching. Gokul’s ability to cover distance in quick time is also an asset to the team. Putting these two fielders at the right place depending on the bowling plan is going to be a crucial tactical decision.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR

Libin had a forgettable debut in Prem Ranjan Tournament, both as a captain and a player. But his improved bowling performance in last semester’s Challenger Trophy and fine form in the pre-tournament practice sessions suggest that he seems to have rediscovered his game. Also, it would be exciting to see how he goes about managing the different batting and bowling options at his disposal. Libin’s bowling, batting and captaincy are going to be very crucial in HS16’s 2018 Prem Ranjan Campaign.