New Delhi, India

Microeconomics has a simple concept of opportunity-cost which applies perfectly to the current state of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 ahead of their Saturday’s encounter at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

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The concept means the cost of giving up something to get something else. You cannot have all things ‘best’ at once and hence need to decide which one to focus on first.

In IPL, tactics and strategy have become the opportunity cost for LSG and PBKS in their attempt to gather consistent runs from captains KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan.

KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan were among the top-10 highest run-scorers in every IPL season between 2018 and 2023. As the second and fourth-highest run-scorers overall in this period (more than the likes of Virat Kohli), they were your sure-shot candidates for Orange Caps, your run-machines at the top of the order, certain to give starts in every second game.

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The first time they both fell off the top 10 was in IPL 2023 - when they were captains of the respective teams at the same time. 

For starters, Rahul’s numbers have fallen since he took up captaincy in the IPL in 2020. Till 2019, he had an overall strike rate of 137.79, which, instead of going up in his prime years, has come down to 134.38. In IPL 2018 and 2019, Rahul’s strike rate in powerplay overs was around 141, which plummeted to just over 109 in 2022 and 2023.

He has shown an aversion to shift to the middle-order, which has meant that LSG’s new signing Devdutt Padikkal, who is best suited to opening as well, has to bat at number three.

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Moreover, Rahul’s slow strike rate at the top deprives deliveries to the team’s middle-order stars Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis. Even when Rahul stays till late and scores quicker in the middle overs to cover up some ground, as happened against the Rajasthan Royals, it doesn’t leave the finisher with enough deliveries to have an impact.

For Dhawan, the discourse is the opposite. He has gotten better with the bat since taking up the captaincy, despite being on the wrong side of the 30s and out of the national team’s plans.

However, he has faced criticism over his captaincy and strategies. There was some pressure on him in IPL 2023 but he looked much better against Delhi Capitals at home. However, once again, the placements of his deep fielders were questionable against RCB at the Chinnaswamy. His utilisation of a good bowling attack hasn’t sat well with many either.

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A ground where leg-spinners have managed to find success over the years, he gave Rahul Chahar just one over despite PBKS being desperate for a wicket. Sam Curran, an excellent death-overs operator for grippy tracks — has just bowled four overs so far in two games.

By betting on Rahul and Dhawan’s batting returns, LSG and PBKS have lost good powerplay starts and tactical acumen respectively. Now, it’s on the two opening batters to find some form and repay the trust shown in them, or else the opportunity cost might just be too high for the franchises to let the status quo continue any longer.