By Vadiraj Kanakagiri

The class. The grace. The touch. The finesse. The beauty. The muscle. If all of these qualities were to be embodied into one person, to go with all the shots in the book and some, then that person must look like Lokesh Rahul. And in his innings yesterday, fearlessness and free mindedness also joined forces with him, to produce an absolute spectacle. Those glorious cover drives pull shots with utter disdain, quick feet movement and those nonchalant flicks of the wrist without feet movement, this innings had it all.

But what is stopping KL? In Hollywood terms, What's eating KL Rahul? Why isn't he playing like this all the time? Of course, he can't score this big every game. But that's not the question. Why isn't he looking to bat like this? What's holding him back? Or who's holding him back? These are the questions that everyone, that are a fan of the game, would want to ask him.

Okay. This is a team sport. You sometimes need to change your style of play to match your team's in its game plan to win. But you changing your style of play should not result in lessening your impact on the game. You and the team, both should benefit from it. Now, let's say, Rahul has been batting cautiously because the middle order is fragile. He has adjusted his game to bat through the innings and to be there at the end. By doing this, he had deprived himself and his team of so many scoring opportunities, on which, otherwise, he would've feasted upon.

Now, who's benefiting from this? The Kings as a team? The middle-order? KL himself? None of them. It's the opposition that has exploited this weakness of the Kings, which should've been their biggest strength. When KL and the Punjab think tank decided that he should bat through the innings by playing fewer attacking strokes and being there till the end, they didn't seem to consider this other thing - KL is not very good finisher.

Let's have it. It's good to realise the things you are good at. But it's great if you can figure out the things where you are not so great. Punjab Kings' biggest failure, over the last two years, has been not being able to close out games. How many games haven't they lost in the last two seasons in a run chase, which seemed like a cakewalk? I can remember at least 5 on the top of my head. Now one may argue that it was because Rahul played this way, that they got that close. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a contest.

Fair enough. By the looks of the middle order that's there now, it seems true. But as a counterargument, how many games Punjab could've won, if Rahul just batted freely. Even if he had a 25% success rate in 14 innings, he would've won them 4 games at least by his batting. And there's another important thing to notice here.

Because Rahul is taking the load, because he doesn't trust other batters, because he thinks he has to do it himself, the environment around the team has taken this exact shape of his thinking. The middle-order isn't taking responsibility because you are not letting them. Their confidence is down because no one trusts them, including and especially their captain. They've been in a situation like this the whole season, where they're told to bat freely, but no one expects them to do things for the team. They are not being thought of as important in their dressing room.

Hence the results are showing. How many times haven't we seen the middle order bats, such as Nicholas Pooran, hit one straight up and get out when there's no need for the big shot. Not being in form might've been the result of that mishit. But why does he even think of taking that irresponsible option? That should be the main question. Because he has no role in the team. He has no idea what he's doing there.  And he has his captain at the other end knocking the ball around until the sky falls. Or because everyone except KL is a pinch hitter. Or they're made to look like one.

One thing KL bats the way he does is because of all the reasons above. He is succeeding without his Superman gear.  He does it because he can. But not everyone is like him. Not everyone is that talented. Why the middle order has crumbled multiple times, must be because just like their captain, or because of him, they too are made to change their natural style. And if players with lesser talent or lesser capabilities are asked or felt like they need to play some other way than what is natural to them, most definitely they're not gonna be performing at their fullest potential. And these are players that don't even have their spots fixed in the eleven.

Take, for example, Aidan Markram. By no means he's a big hitter. I mean, he can go big, but not consistently, ball after ball, definitely not at the start of his innings. Now with KL not taking many risks, guys like Markram have to take that extra risk which they wouldn't have normally. Even if KL had got out early, suddenly players seemed like they're in uncertain territory.

In totality, Punjab Kings have failed by not being able to make the best use of their biggest weapon.

I'll try to use a football analogy here ( although not a great one). A team has a talented forward striker in their ranks. Now he has possession of the ball when the whole of the other team is in their half. Now he is a super runner and is a very good striker. If he runs now with the ball to the other end, he only has to get through one odd defender and the goalkeeper. But the thing with him running alone is he might get blocked easily by multiple defenders on his way, and lose possession of the ball. But that is dependent on his skill level and how much of a free rein have you given him to run with the ball. But the team decide to keep possession and play safe and then take the ball to the other half when the opposition is well spread. Now even though you have the possession for long, and you've gone close to the post, your chances of actually scoring the goal are far far less.

I don't know how well I've explained the above example. But it might be down to my lack of football knowledge and lack of football-specific terminology. I'll finish with this thought, "In an urge to keep possession for long, Punjab have missed the opportunity for a goal".