Recently, a statistic took many cricket followers by surprise -- veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha becoming the third Indian player after Virender Sehwag and Prithvi Shaw to score more than 1000 runs in Power-play of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Since Gujarat Titans got him in the playing eleven as an opener mid-way in their triumphant campaign last year, Saha's IPL career took an upswing as he smashed a jaw-dropping 38-ball 68 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After that, there was no looking back for Saha the Power-play scorer, ending the 2022 season with 317 runs at an average of 31.7 and a strike rate of 122.4. The same script has continued in IPL 2023, with Saha proving to be effective with his Power-play knocks, as seen from 25 off 16 balls against Chennai Super Kings or his 7-ball 14 against Delhi Capitals.
"As per my individual thought, if the team gets a good start in the Power-play, then that team is always 30-40% ahead in the game. Let's say a team gets 30 runs in the first six overs and loses one wicket."
"But then there's a team which makes 60 runs in the same six overs, then that team is always 10-15 runs ahead. It makes life easy for middle-order and lower-order batters. What I always look for is to make as many runs in power-play as possible," said Saha on his batting approach in power-play in a virtual media interaction on Friday.
With his opening partner Shubman Gill in sparkling form since the start of the year, Saha acknowledged that it has made his life easier.
"Currently, Shubman is in the best form through his contributions to the Indian team. Batting alongside him is very easy as we know that for the team to do well if we contribute with the top-order, it becomes very easy for the side."
"So, me, Shubman, Sai (Sudarshan) batting at one, two, and three, we do know that there's batting to come and I can also play my natural game along with Shubman, Sai and others contributing. The approach becomes a bit easy with Shubman at the other end."
Saha, who played 40 Tests for India, pointed out that the process of preparing for an IPL game is different from doing the same while playing domestic cricket.
"The process while playing in domestic cricket is different, like the style of play and the planning you do on seeing the bowlers they have."
"After coming to the IPL, one is very well-versed with how they will attack you with various plans. Due to playing for so many years, that is there in the mind and we go into the game with the benchmarks we have set while preparing in the practice sessions."
But one thing which hasn't changed for him is his simple approach to any match. "I try to keep things as simple as possible, irrespective of whether I am playing for India or for the domestic team. Right now, I am in the IPL and taking things match-by-match."
"For the preparation, there's a different approach to the way one player prepares for every game. In that scenario, Sai remains very active and we always discuss with each other, with coaches as well as individually, over how we can improve things. This was the same which happened last season, and is being continued in this season."
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Saha signed off by observing the impact player rule has benefitted teams who are chasing totals in IPL 2023.
"It's a similar kind of rule to the super-sub one (seen during the early 2000s). So far, it has been batter-oriented barring a few occasions. In some games, a bowler was brought in too. I feel it gives more advantage to the team batting second as they get a bit of depth with the bat while chasing."
"We saw in the last match how KKR used spinner (Suyash Sharma) as an impact player and he took three wickets. So, it gives the teams an extra option to plan against the opposition and teams can plan around it with a very free mind."
