By Niharika Raina
New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) The league stage of 2023 season of the Indian Premier League has reached its half-way mark after completion of 35 games which had its thrilling and awe-inspiring moments in equal measure. In the points table, two teams, four-time winners Chennai Super Kings and defending champions Gujarat Titans, have ten points.
Four teams, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings, are on eight points each. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians are stuck on six points while Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals have four points each.
Aaron Finch, Australia’s T20 World Cup winning captain in 2021 and regarded as one of the most ferocious strikers of the ball in T20s, spoke exclusively to IANS in an interview arranged by Star Sports on his standout team in IPL 2023, impact player rule, veterans impressing with their performances and much more: –
IANS: In your opinion, which side has been the standout team of IPL 2023 at the halfway mark?
Finch: I think it will be Chennai Super Kings, who are on top of the table at the moment. They are playing really good cricket. Even though they have inexperienced players in their bowling line-up, they have shown some real skills and ability to adapt to different situations. For me, this is what stands out too.
IANS: One of the bright lights for Chennai in IPL 2023 has been Ajinkya Rahane shining at the top. How joyful has it been for you to see Rahane achieve success with his free-flowing batting style?
Finch: Ajinkya is one of the great players in cricket. I don’t think anybody in the world would be thinking they would be watching him play like this and I am really happy for him. To see him come in and play freely, then dominate and score at a strike-rate above 200, it’s great to see him play this way.
IANS: Young pacers Akash Singh and Matheesha Pathirana have been flourishing with the ball. How instrumental do you think has been the backing from the CSK management in these two youngsters to be impressive in the tournament?
Finch: The confidence that has been shown in them and what the leadership, captain, coach have done for them to make them feel backed at every step in the way, it is so important. Coming in at the half-way mark as an impact player a lot many times, that’s not the easiest job to do. The fact that they are performing so well, it’s been outstanding to witness.
IANS: Glenn Maxwell has been looking in great nick for Royal Challengers Bangalore through his counter-attacking knocks. Where do you think things are clicking for him in Bangalore?
Finch: Maxi is playing beautifully at the moment in the tournament. We have seen that he’s prepared to come after the team has lost a few wickets and tries really hard to swing the momentum in his team’s favour in the game and that’s his greatest asset.
His ability to try and dominate the opposition bowlers from ball one and there are not many players in the world who have that confidence and back themselves, their skills. Even after some poor performances, he will approach the innings in the exact same way. That puts a lot of pressure on the opposition and he’s so skilled that when he gets on top of any team in the world, he can be so destructive.
IANS: One of the most innovative rules introduced in IPL 2023 has been the impact player rule. In your opinion, how effective has been the impact player rule in the tournament so far?
Finch: The impact player rule has a lot of merit and it has been good. But I think when you combine that with teams naming their eleven after the toss happens, then it creates less creativity for a captain and it effectively leaves teams with either six bowlers or eight batters. For me, I would love to see captains and coaches to be challenged a little bit more tactically and still have to try and hold on to what goes with their team because either they go with a batting-strong team or a bowling-strong side.
Generally, that then leads a team short in either one of the disciplines. I would love to see the impact players being brought on by the teams, as that becomes a lot more important tactically than anything.
IANS: Also, in this season, every team has at least lost one game at their home venue this year. Where do you think teams aren’t being able to create a fortress-like environment in terms of results?
Finch: I don’t think it has to do anything with the return to home-and-away format. Most of the teams at the auction structure their teams around being dominant at home. I think what’s happened this year is that due to the impact player sub and teams being announced after the toss, teams are tactically able to play eight batters.
Moreover, teams batting first are going a lot harder than it would have been in the past. Like, in the past, if a team was three down, they would have to rebuild by taking in a lot of overs and try to get to a respectable total.
But now, teams are prepared to go so hard right throughout their 20 overs and it is putting a lot of scoreboard pressure on the opposition. That’s also not necessarily a home advantage; it might be around a lot of teams using more things tactically.
IANS: In IPL 2023, veteran players like Rahane, Ishant Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla have come good. Could you tell why seasoned pros like them are fetching tremendous success in the tournament?
Finch: It’s because of the experience and what one does as experienced players is you don’t dwell much on your past performances and to be honest, you probably play the game more with a free mind. It may be because you are playing matches without thinking about trying to get another deal or thinking about a team retaining you.
You just want to go out and have the best impact on the game one could possibly have. When you free up your quality players like Chawla, Rahane, that leads to players like them having a superb season.
IANS: With the tournament set to enter the second half of the league stage, how important does the role of top-order batters become, especially with the possibility of pitches getting slower?
Finch: The power-play becomes so important as the pitches get slow because teams will look to maximise that. Also, we have seen some teams be really poor in power-play and lose a lot of wickets, like Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals.
So, they will still be searching for the right combination to get them off to a solid start. Teams like Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore can be so dominant in the power-play with the bat, that they will continue to bat in the same way as they have been doing.
IANS: You had been a part of various teams in the IPL as a player for well over a decade. How has it been for you to be on the other side of the fence, like being in the role of a TV broadcast expert?
Finch: I am actually loving it. To be honest, it’s a different feeling as I was a part of IPL for 12 years as a player. But for me, it’s been brilliant here. To get to sit down and watch IPL from the commentary box as opposed to sitting in a change-room has been a totally different perspective because you don’t have a vested interest in the result, and you just hope for a good game, a really good contest and you call it as you see it.
But there’s nothing better than watching cricket live, particularly an IPL game. I have always said to my friends that you need to experience watching an IPL game as it is an opportunity to experience one of the greatest things in life.
–IANS
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