IPL 2017: The secret behind Robin Uthappa's aggressive batting

At Eden Gardens against Delhi Daredevils, Robin Uthappa’s second consecutive half-century of the season helped Kolkata Knight Riders to register their seventh win in IPL 2017.

This was Uthappa’s fourth half-century of this season and with this, he has become the second highest run-scorer in this IPL. These stats are interesting because at the beginning of the season, the team management demoted him to No. 3 from the opening slot to accommodate a hitter in the pursuit of increasing the run rate.

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Even more interesting is the fact that among the batsmen who have faced more than 150 balls in this season, Uthappa has the highest strike rate. This reflects the aggressive approach Uthappa has adopted in 2017.

Uthappa batting at his career best strike rate

Uthappa hasn’t been so aggressive as this year, and until last year, his main objective was to bat till the end. However this year, the KKR batsman has a different mindset which is focused on getting quick runs. The upshot? Uthappa is currently batting with his career best strike rate.

This below stat clearly shows that there is a significant increase in the Karnataka batsman’s strike rate in 2017.

Robin Uthappa's career summary with focus on strike rate

Year	Matches	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
2017	9	331	41.37	168.02
2016	15	394	26.26	136.33
2015	13	364	30.33	131.40
2014	16	660	44.00	137.78
2013	16	434	27.12	116.98
Overall career	144	3721	30.25	131.39

It is evident that the increased strike rate is not accidental and is something which Uthappa and the team management have specifically worked on. So how has the KKR batsman managed to up his scoring rate?

Most times, when batsmen focus on improving their strike rates, they work on rotating the strike, picking quick singles and running doubles. However, Uthappa’s case is a little different.

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Let us compare Uthappa’s singles and dot balls percentage for this year with 2014 as it was his best year so far and with 2016.

Uthappa's single and dot ball percentage

Year	Runs	Balls faced	No. of singles	singles % for balls faced	% of runs scored in singles	Total dot balls	Dot ball %
2017	331	197	80	40.60	24.16	58	29.87
2016	394	289	119	41.79	30.20	79	27.33
2014	660	479	189	39.45	28.63	157	32.77

The table provides fascinating reading. There is a similarity in dot ball percentage and singles percentage in all three years but his percentage of runs scored through singles has actually dropped in 2017.

Uthappa has scored 331 runs in this edition of the IPL so far

So, this table makes it clear that Uthappa hasn’t focused on the widely used approach of minimising dot balls by increasing singles.

Now we come to the second method of increasing the strike rate which is to increase the number of fours.

Statistical comparison of Uthappa's fours

Year	Balls faced	Total fours	Total runs scored through 4’s	% of runs scored in 4’s	four balls %
2017	197	32	128	38.67	16.24
2016	289	45	180	45.68	15.57
2014	479	74	296	44.80	15.44

Like the previous table, this stat too paints the same picture. In all three years, the Karnataka batsman has similar four percentages, and except for 2017, the percentage of runs scored in fours is the same, too.

But, again in 2017, this percentage dips considerably indicating that he hasn’t improved his strike rate through fours.

The last method of propelling the strike rate is by hitting sixes which seems to be the easiest option, but batsmen who bat at the top seldom use it as it brings a huge risk of losing the wicket.

Here are Uthappa’s stats related to sixes for the last three years.

Statistical comparison of Uthappa's sixes

Year	Balls faced	Total sixes	Total runs scored through 6’s	% of runs scored in 6’s	six balls %
2017	197	17	102	30.81	8.62
2016	289	8	48	12.18	2.76
2014	479	18	108	16.36	3.75

Uthappa’s improved six hitting ability

This stat reveals the secret behind this wicket-keeper batsman’s humongous strike rate in 2017. In 2016, only 2.76 percent of his total balls have been a six, while this year his percentage has increased up to 8.62

This year, he has hit a six every 11.58 balls and he also tops the list of most sixes by a batsman for 2017. (after 32 matches)

Andre Russell’s unavailability was a huge blow for KKR as he was their main hitter and the key to push their run rate. However, Kallis and company overcame this trouble by loading more firepower at the top and by also giving Uthappa the freedom to go after the bowling.

Hence, apart from his responsibility of steering the innings, the wicket-keeper batsman is also able to keep the run rate at a high rate.

This table shows the analysis of the overs in which he has hit sixes in these three years.

Uthappa's over wise analysis of sixes

Overs	2017	2016	2014
1-4	0	1	3
5-8	6	3	7
9-12	8	1	5
13-16	3	2	2
17-20	0	1	1

One of the crucial reasons for KKR’s success in this year is their higher run rate till the 15^th over. And the above table shows how they have managed to do that. While the opening pair has brought runs in the powerplay overs, Uthappa has smacked vital big hits during the middle overs (overs 9 to 12) to maintain the run flow.

By scoring 17 sixes, the top order batsman has shown the ideal way of milking runs in the middle overs. Another improvement in Uthappa’s batting is his aggression against the spinners. This year, he has batted against the spinners with an open mindset allowing him to score more sixes.

Pace vs Spin – How Uthappa scored his sixes

Year	Pace	Spin
2017	9	8
2016	4	4
2014	12	6

Uthappa: Using his strength to full advantage

And how has he improved his six-hitting power? He has achieved that by focusing on his strength which is the area from square leg to long on, popularly known as the ‘cow corner’.

This year, all but five of his sixes have come in this region and that indicates how strong he is in this arc.

Where has Uthappa struck his sixes

Year	Total Sixes between square leg and long on	Overall Sixes	%sixes in the arc
2017	12	17	70.58
2016	4	8	50
2014	12	18	66.66

Uthappa’s improved six hitting has surely entertained the fans but at the same time has increased troubles for bowlers in IPL. It is going to be exciting to see what strategies teams use in the next games to stop Uthappa from smoking these sixes.