Anchoring in T20s - boon or bane?

T20 is very different from the other two formats of cricket - Test and ODI - but like these two formats, ten wickets and eleven batters are allowed here. So optimisation of resources is important because in T20s, there are only 20 overs for 10 wickets. Teams tend to play at least six capable batters and when evenly distributed, a batter gets 20 deliveries on average to make an impact. Of course, cricket does not work like that but in a format where momentum can shift in as quickly as in an over, does a batter have the luxury to take, say, 20 balls to get set? 

People who follow T20 cricket are quite familiar with the term "anchoring" and despite it not being a specialised role, there is a never-ending debate of whether it is useful in this format or not. Well, nothing is unmixed on earth. Sometimes, it works but if we look at the big picture, taking time to settle down in such a fast-moving format proves to be hazardous. 

England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler is known to be a high-functioning T20 anchor because of ability to play the situation and change gears. Playing the role should be easier for batters in the second innings because they have a target to achieve. But an anchor of Buttler's calibre failed to win a game for Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) because of taking too many balls to get his eye in.

Against Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan fell 10 short of a target of 155 and the prime reason was their overcautious approach up front. Buttler played a 41-ball-40 and going at a sub-100 strike-rate in such a chase left the other batters with too much to get in the end.

KL Rahul is someone who has received a lot of flak for his ultra-slow batting and then defending it by calling strike-rate "overrated" especially in the powerplay but the right-handed batter continued to play like that in this year's IPL as well. His strike-rate of 113 so far as an opener is below par by any standards.

Lucknow's last game was the perfect example of the hazard of anchoring in this format. In his 61-ball-68, Rahul stayed in the middle as late as the 20th over but could not hit a boundary after the 11th over. Yes, he could have gotten out trying to go for one at any point but there were a lot of capable batters to come. They were just three down when the final over began and with players like Marcus Stoinis and Deepak Hooda waiting in the dugout, Rahul had to try to stay ahead of the required rate all the time.

Virat Kohli's approach in T20s also has come under scrutiny largely because of him going at a run-a-ball post-powerplay a few times despite having a lot of wickets in hand. In a match, Kohli took 10 balls to reach from 42 to 50 and broadcaster Simon Doull criticised him for that. Kohli, like Rahul, gives more importance to playing the situation and said he could maintain a high strike-rate if the situation demands that from him.

A couple of games later, after a decent start in the powerplay, Kohli scored 30 off 28 after the powerplay ended despite Bangalore not losing a single wicket. The 40-ball-fifty proved to be just enough in the end but there are instances when this type of knocks hurt the team. 

Kohli took 40 balls to score 50 against England in the T20 World Cup semi-final last year. Despite being only three down by as late as the 18th over, India managed to get only 168 and that was largely because of Hardik Pandya's 33-ball-63. Later, England's openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler absolutely schooled India with the bat and despite being the World Cup's highest scorer and playing probably T20 cricket's finest knock against Pakistan, Kohli trying to anchor the innings in one instance eventually was, in many ways, responsible for India's exit.

Pakistan's prolific duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have long been criticised for their approach in T20s. On a belter of a pitch in Rawalpindi in the 5th T20I against New Zealand, Pakistan scored 28 off the final three overs in spite of losing only four wickets at that point. Rizwan ended up with 98* off 62 but what really hurt Pakistan was that he scored 14 off his last 11 balls. Babar said later that they were 15 runs short and it made the difference. 

Rahul faced the same problem against Gujarat. He was not able to find the boundaries which shows the importance of having designated hitters in the slog overs. You often hear that the best batter of the team needs to face more deliveries but in this format, the presence of the right batter in the right phase is mighty important. Batters need to undervalue their wickets in T20s and even normalise retiring themselves when things are not going well. The format must head towards that direction where people involved will believe getting out while attacking is not a very bad thing to do.