IPL 2008 to 2018: 3 tactical changes that have happened over the years.

#1 Opening with pinch-hitters

Sunil Narine

In the last 10 years of IPL, the safety-first strategy has eventually been eroded from the game by the onset of the pinch hitter, a player promoted to the top of the order and given a free-license to attack. KKR has never ceased to amaze and they are one of the few teams who has extensively used Sunil Narine to open the innings.

The move to send Narine is a well-thought decision. If he is going to bat at number eight, Sunil is going to face two balls there, he'll probably get what 8, or 10 runs, 12 maximum. Contrast that to him opening the innings, he can play 15 balls and get the team to a flying start. In the first game against RCB, Narine scored a 17-ball fifty to help the hosts chase down a competitive 176 with seven balls to spare. In the first six overs, Narine strikes at 176.19 which is the best by any batsman in the powerplay from the last five years of IPL.

In this year's IPL, surprisingly we have not seen other teams using this strategy. Going forward they can take a leaf out of KKR's book and try to use this strategy.