Is Sunil Narine the Sanath Jayasuriya of Twenty20 cricket?

The thing about revolutions is that once they are over and the dust has settled, you can’t help but think: What took it so long?

In hindsight, all the great revolutions look ridiculously simple. Think about it. Even despite the advent of One-Day Internationals and fielding restrictions in the first 15 overs, old habits died hard. Batsmen just couldn’t break away from the archetype that they had to first play themselves in and then go on the front foot. So what if there were field restrictions? What if there were easy runs on offer? Change is hard. Change is painful.

Martin Crowe and his enigmatic New Zealand team of the 1992 World Cup had started the fire. But it required a certain little genius like Sanath Jayasuriya to turn it into a raging inferno and redefine modern-day ODI batting forever.

The Matara Mauler

The way he went about it was strikingly simple. In the mid-1990s, the Matara Mauler, as Jayasuriya was lovingly called, had little regard for convention. His gifts were supple wrists and supreme hand-eye coordination, along with the backing of a visionary captain, Arjuna Ranatunga. And he used those gifts in devastating style against hapless bowlers. Just ask Manoj Prabhakar. Or the England team which came up against him in the 1996 World Cup quarter-final.

More than 20 years later, in , another left-handed batsman, like Jayasuriya converted into an opener from just a spinner but from the Caribbean, is unfurling a similar revolution in the world’s biggest T20 league.

Again when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. The first six overs are called the Powerplay for a reason. Batsmen do walk out with an attacking approach. But perhaps till now, even they have underestimated the capacity of destruction they can cause in those first 36 balls.

The case for maximising the Powerplay

In an ODI, the first 15 overs constitute 30% of a completed 50-over innings. The first six overs in a Twenty20 also constitute 30% of a 20-over T20 innings. But, here’s the key detail: you have the same 10 wickets to play 30 overs fewer in a T20. So why not go all guns blazing in the Powerplay and maximise your impact instead of waiting for the conventional death overs to swing to the hills?

It’s a simple formula but thanks to Gautam Gambhir’s farsightedness, Sunil Narine is proving its brilliance. Like Jayasuriya more than two decades ago, there’s not much mystery about what he does. His batting range is limited, but his strength lies in the fact that he knows and respects it. Hence, more often than not, he focuses on his bat swing and meeting the ball in the middle. With only four fielders allowed the circle, a good connection, nine times out of ten, will take the ball into the stands.

Narine’s assault

His 15-ball 50 on Sunday at the Chinnaswamy was magical. He hit three consecutive sixes off Samuel Badree in exactly the same area. RCB’s bowlers looked so shell-shocked by his frenetic assault that they seemed to forget every rule of bowling they had been taught. They placed it on nice and easy hit-me lengths. Both Narine and Chris Lynn, coming back from injury, obliged. It was a furious, breath-taking assault. Much like how Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana left an entire generation of bowlers and spectators spell-bound and for once and for all, redefined the term pinch-hitting.

And you can see that it’s a strategy that KKR have been pursuing throughout this season. Their overall run-rate in the Powerplay this season has been 9.84. They have scored 60-plus (a RR of 10) in the Powerplay five times, including the 105 against RCB on Sunday along with 59 against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium.

Quite clearly and especially when they are chasing, KKR are out to win the game in the Powerplay itself rather than take it till the end (MS Dhoni, look away). A target of 184 was chased down against Gujarat Lions in less than 15 overs. Against Kings XI Punjab, 171 was gunned down in 16.3 overs. 183 against Rising Pune Supergiant was wrapped up with 11 balls remaining and Delhi Daredevils’ 160/6 was chased in 16.2 overs. And, if it hadn’t been for a few quick wickets, KKR looked like they would chase down RCB’s 159 within 10 overs.

It’s a simple strategy but not many other captains have used it. And it is here that Gautam Gambhir deserves some share of the credit too. Using first Chris Lynn, then Sunil Narine and finally both together is proper aggressive captaincy. Like Arjuna Ranatunga before him, Gambhir may well have kickstarted a new revolution in Twenty20 cricket.