End of the T20 specialist?

[slowfinger]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with TEC, although I wish 20/20 was boring.

 

[tooextracool]

So it comes to his batting, and you have to wonder if his side will find themselves in the position of chasing small totals often enough to warrant his inclusion. I suspect not. But unlike some, I do think he's capable of playing as a hitter, especially during the powerplays. It comes down to whether Kallis is stubbornly refusing to hit out or the management have assigned him a "batting through" role (which I consider somewhat redundant for a T20 opener). I've always suspected the latter, although needless to say, others disagree.

Yeah its a double edged sword with Kallis because RCB needed an all rounder as they only really had 4 other bowling options + Pietersen (who wasnt really bankable) if you excluded Kallis. Hence he played every game.

I dont have a problem with him playing because he does offer something to the side with his all round skills but I cannot agree with those that think that he was a success story this tournament. Ideally, Bangalore should have had more than 1 all rounder in the side, and that comes down to their initial squad selection.

The other concern with Kallis is that there were situations in many games where it was desperately clear that he needed to get a move on and it was clear that he was unable to. At this point, the sensible thing to do was to get himself out but it was clear that he wasnt even trying. We saw Dravid sacrifice his wicket in the semi final against mumbai because it was clear that his presence at the crease was going to cost rather than save the game and I dont think that Kallis is likely to do the same.

 

[Arjun]

One more T20 specialist off the playing XI- Loots Bosman was dropped for the first Super-8 match. Now with those T20 stats, you wouldn't have him anywhere out of the playing XI, but they've had to bench him.

I think the concern with Van Der Merwe's selection is that Kumble is already in the side and is a far superior spinner not to mention he doesn't take up one of the foreign player spots. Also, for most of the tournament, with the pace bowlers that RCB had, Steyn became a necessity. In 2009, Steyn wasn't a certainty in the side but this year he was so if RCB was to continue their policy of 3-1(3 batters and 1 bowler) for their cap of foreign players Van Der Merwe was never likely to get a game. I don't think it has anything with him being behind the likes of White, Pietersen, Taylor etc. If Kumble wasn't in the side, he'd be the first player on the team sheet.

More than your best eleven, an IPL team should be treated as your best seven-four combo. While it's an easy guess what's the pecking order for the overseas players, you need to consider that of the domestic players as well. If the top seven of the locals comprises most batsmen, you'd pick Roelof easily, but not if it has more bowlers. Eventually, they had gone in with more domestic bowlers (Vinay, Praveen, Kumble and in a game Mithun or KPA), and with that combination, Roelof would be difficult to get in.

 

[Arjun]

I think his bowling should be seen as a bonus. He does occasionally bowl some excellent spells- such as against England at last year's World T20- but he's far too hittable to be a front-line bowler. Besides, he's not a player you pick purely to fill your all-rounder quota.

Most ideal T20 selections with Kallis would have him in as a specialist batsman, with other all-rounders or five proper bowlers. RCB, however, chose to have him as a full frontline bowler, throughout the tournament, sending down four overs regularly.