IPL 2019: One bowler from each team who can be used as a pinch hitter

Over the past 11 years, we have seen a lot happening in the Indian Premier League. We have seen batters scoring centuries, bowlers picking hat-tricks, all-rounders having a great day with both bat and ball. And then we saw something special happening in the year 2017. For a change, Kolkata Knight Riders asked Sunil Narine to open the innings with the bat and rest they say is history. Narine has become one of the finest all-rounders in IPL and a dependable player for KKR.

IPL 2019 is already upon us and we have witnessed some pleasant surprises in the games played so far. While Nitish Rana was expected to be an integral part of KKR’s batting line up, no one expected him to open the innings with Lynn in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Jonny Bairstow opened the innings for SRH alongside Warner in the same game.

But these were less surprising compared to what the choice of Narine as an opener inflicted on us. Since there can be days when batters have a tough day facing the risk of major collapse, team management might decide to send a bowler into bat at the top hoping to keep the key wickets intact.

So, we have decided to come up with the list of bowlers from each team who could be utilized as pinch hitters at the top when the management sense an opportunity to do so.

#1 Chennai Super Kings: Deepak Chahar

Chahar could be an interesting option to open

Deepak Chahar has been the first choice bowler for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to open the innings with the ball. He more often than not completes his quota of 4 overs in a single spell at the top. What makes him a favourite to bat at the top is his hard hitting ability.

In the 56th match of IPL 2018, when CSK was chasing a total of 154 against Kings XI Punjab, not many expected a middle-order collapse that transpired. It was even more shocking to see Deepak Chahar come in to bat at no.6 ahead of MS Dhoni himself.

What followed was a brilliant display of hard-hitting ability from the pacer who ended up scoring 39 runs off just 20 balls that comprised of 3 huge sixes. If CSK looks for a makeshift opener or a pinch hitter to tackle tough conditions, they need not look further than Chahar to fill in the slot.

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#2 Mumbai Indians: Mitchell McClenaghan

McClenaghan is certainly handy with the bat

Considering how de Kock has adapted himself at the top with Rohit Sharma, MI might not look for a replacement for the opener. But, as we mentioned earlier there can be days when batsmen find it really difficult to score runs and it requires unpredictability to tackle the conditions.

McClenaghan's strike rate of 128.79 might not be something that makes him an easy choice, but his ability to take on any pace bowlers for runs without the fear of losing his wicket could grant him an opportunity to play the role of the hitter to perfection when the team needs one.

As of late, McClenaghan has been trusted to score some quick runs at the tail end of the innings and he could very well be given the same responsibility at the top of the order if the situation demands. After all, Rohit is someone who always trusted his players a lot and never backs out from giving them enough chances to prove.

#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore: Tim Southee

Southee can be worth a try

We had an elaborate discussion on the decisions that Kohli could make to change his team’s fortune. One of those we suggested in the article was to make some surprising calls. Here we are, with a shocking call that Kohli could make to surprise his fans and the opposition.

Tim Southee is not a bad option with the bat either. To his credit, he has a decent strike of 138.32 which is pretty good for a no.10 batsman. Imagine a scenario where the pitch assists swing and batsmen find it difficult to score runs.

Southee could be a better option in that case since he plays freely and hits boundaries whenever the bat swing connects. RCB can feel much better due to the fact that they could easily have a good start at the expense of losing a bowler's wicket.

#4 Rajasthan Royals: Jofra Archer

Archer failed to utilize his first chance

He has been tried as an opener once during the last IPL season when Rajasthan Royals was up against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last league game. Although he ended up getting out for a duck in 4 balls, the decision to play him at the top looked really shocking.

It is worthy to note that Archer got the opportunity to open with the bat due to the departure of Buttler for national duties and this year too we expect the English players to leave at some point to join their team for World Cup. There is also an ODI series with Pakistan before that.

With Buttler likely to miss out on a certain number of games, RR would be looking for an alternate to fill in the aggressive opener’s slot. In that case, Archer could be given another chance to prove his mettle with the bat. Even if not for the opener's role, RR should fancy sending Archer at the top order and see what transpires.

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#5 Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin might have a surprise in store

From the start of the tournament, Ravichandran Ashwin has been the talk of the town. Infamous Mankad incident in the team's first game, making some shocking changes in the second game, handing debuts for Hardus Viljoen and Varun Chakravarthy and bringing in Murugan Ashwin in the third game were some of the experiments that he made so far.

Considering the attitude of Ashwin to go for a win at any cost, there is a possibility for us to see himself promoting up the order to open the innings if and when Gayle decides to take some much needed time off the field. He might even prefer coming in no.3 or 4, which he has tried once in the last IPL season.

Ashwin is definitely not new to the role since he has played at the top order in the domestic tournaments in the past. Although his strike rate of 106.96 will be a bit of worry, he is someone who can improve it by playing some good cricketing shots at the top.

#6 Delhi Capitals: Harshal Patel

A proven customer at the domestic level

Incidentally, Harshal Patel has finally got his first game of this season while I was writing down this article. He finished his job with the ball picking 2 crucial wickets at the top. Now that he is back into the XI and looks likely to be persisted for a while, we are looking at him as a possible attacking option with the bat for the team if the need arises.

His ability with the bat was clearly visible during the domestic tournaments where he played a more of an all-rounder role for his team. In the match against Chennai Super Kings last year, Harshal Patel came into bat when his team was in trouble reeling at 97-5. He ended up playing a match-winning knock of 36 from 16 balls comprising 4 huge sixes.

With Ganguly and Ponting at the helm, don’t be surprised if he is promoted to the top order at some point. He could be the right person to score some quick runs and kill the bowler's momentum at the top.

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#7 Sunrisers Hyderabad: Rashid Khan

Rashid likes to have some runs against his name

The no.1 ranked all-rounder from ODI format is keen to take up the same role in the shorter format. Even before the start of the tournament, Rashid did mention that he is working on his batting skills and is looking to prove his worth when he gets his chances.

Even though he won the man of the match award in the game against Rajasthan Royals for his bowling performance, he did finish the game with the bat by hitting a splendid six in the penultimate over. SRH fans would not have forgotten the cameo (34 of 10 balls, 2 fours & 4 sixes) he played in the Qualifier 2 last year that literally won them the game and the spot in the finals.

With Manish Pandey struggling to score runs and Yusuf Pathan lacking his touch with the bat, Rashid Khan could easily get a promotion up the order to display his attacking runs and score the much needed runs for the side.

#8 Kolkata Knight Riders: Piyush Chawla

Batter in Chawla always remains unnoticed

As mentioned earlier, KKR has pulled out a little surprise by sending Nitish Rana to open the innings in the first game. But, that may not be the only surprise from their end as we could expect some shockers in the games to follow. With Narine sitting out due to injury, Nikhil Naik was handed his debut in their third IPL game. He failed to utilize the opportunity properly and had a poor outing with the bat.

Narine is expected to be back in the XI for the next game provided he is completely fit and ready. That leads us to the next question. Who will get the chance to open with Lynn if Narine could not make it to the team? One of the shocking picks would be Piyush Chawla. Even if not for the opener's role, Chawla can be tried as a pinch hitter whenever the team needs one.

It is worthy to note that almost all the IPL teams have leg spinners in their XI whom they even try to use in the powerplay at times. In case if the pitch assists spin and the opposition breaks through the KKR's top order, management could send Chawla at the top to tackle the spin and neutralize the threat posed.

That concludes the list of bowlers, we expect to be used as the pinch hitters by each side in IPL 2019. Please voice out your opinions in the comments section below.

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