Rajat Patidar began his captaincy career in the IPL with a right call at the toss as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opted to bowl first in their season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens. With overhead rain threats hogging headlines before the match, teams were expected to opt to chase to get the DRS equation known in the second half. KKR made a surprising choice in their playing XI with Australia new ball bowler Spencer Johnson given a go ahead of Anrich Nortje in the first match.
The change came as a bit of a surprise with Nortje, who with his experience and pace and bounce available, was expected to make the starting XI. Instead, KKR chose to have Johnson, whose new ball value could be crucial for KKR in the powerplay under lights. The left-arm quick is a wicket-taker and has been pretty impressive in the T20 circuit in recent times.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
While the decision may have surprised a few, it aligns with what former RCB coach Mike Hesson had predicted earlier.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hesson had highlighted that Nortje was still not 100% fit, having recently recovered from a back injury. “There’s a lot of talk about Nortje being injured. He has come off a back injury, which is really hard to come straight back in and try and bowl 150 km an hour,” Hesson said.
Nortje, though, was spotted bowling for KKR ahead of the toss at Eden Gardens by a few fans at the venue.
Instead, Hesson backed Spencer Johnson to start, and that’s exactly how KKR went. The Australian left-arm pacer brings variety to KKR’s attack — something Hesson believes can be particularly effective against RCB’s top order.
“A left-armer who hits a hard length and can swing it could be a real handful for any side — but that RCB top order in particular,” he said. With right-handers like Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis at the top, Johnson’s angle and movement into the body could pose real challenges, especially if he gets early rhythm.
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Hesson also cautioned that Johnson is “either really on song or he’s not,” but suggested KKR would have assessed his form during warm-up games and backed him based on how well he was bowling leading into the tournament.
In short, fitness concerns for Nortje and conditions + match-up-based advantage for Johnson tipped the balance in favour of the Aussie pacer — and KKR will hope the move pays off as they start their IPL 2025 campaign.
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