Supergiant missteps
Du Plessis for Stokes?
If you were to pick Rising Pune Supergiant's strength, it will be their batting. They are so well stocked that Manoj Tiwary, who has the highest strike-rate in the team, has just not been able to play enough balls.
On Wednesday, with Ben Stokes unavailable, there was an opportunity to play an extra bowler. Since Indian players form the core of the Kolkata Knight Riders batting - and with a pinch-hitter in Sunil Narine at the top - it would have been best had the legspinner Adam Zampa or the fast bowler Lockie Ferguson come into the Rising Pune XI. Instead, they picked an extra batsman in Faf du Plessis.
KKR also pulled a surprise by picking three spinners. Even if they had to rest Nathan Coulter-Nile to manage his workload, they could have played Trent Boult.
How should a captain handle limited pace-bowling resources?
When a team has only two fast bowlers, the captain will have a lot of manipulating to do. Ideally, he can use three overs of pace in the Powerplay and keep five handy for the rest of the innings. Gautam Gambhir, though, has taken a different path. He let Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav and Narine - three of his best bowlers - bowl two overs each in the Poweplay. While it did not cost KKR against Pune, it could still lead to a situation where they might not be able to attack in the middle overs as much as they used to.
Why did Kuldeep bowl the 18th over?
It was brave of Gambhir to give the 18th over to Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm wristspinner had conceded 11 runs in his last over, which included a short ball that MS Dhoni pulled for six.
At the time Gambhir had two overs each of Umesh and Woakes, but he went with Kuldeep in search of a wicket. It could have been a hugely expensive over - Dhoni was set and he was brought on strike to face the second ball - but unorthodox bowlers are worth a gamble. Kuldeep stumped Dhoni and Tiwary with googlies and conceded only five runs.
Why did Tiwary bat ahead of du Plessis and Christian?
Even though Tiwary scored only 1 off 2 balls, the move to send him ahead of two overseas recruits was the right decision. Tiwary has been Rising Pune's best batsman in the end overs and T20 cricket is about form over reputation.
Why did Washington Sundar have a bad game?
Washington Sundar is a batsman who bowls a bit of offspin and yet he only went for 45 runs in seven overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. This was largely because he bowled quick, flat and maintained really tight lines. To dominate bowlers like Sundar, a batsman has to go aerial without using his feet. Gambhir profited by cutting and driving, and Uthappa used his power, staying in his crease and lofting Sundar down the ground for back-to-back sixes.
Why did Tahir not bowl in the Powerplay?
Imran Tahir has only bowled three overs in the Powerplay in this IPL. While he has been economical and has picked up wickets in the middle overs, it is a little surprising that Rising Pune aren't using him in the most difficult phase of a T20 innings. One could understand the thought process if the team has many outstanding bowling options but that is not the case.
Tahir came on to bowl in the seventh over and conceded 22 runs off his first 12 deliveries. Smith could have kept him and pushed for a wicket, but to save runs he turned to seam bowlers Dan Christian and Rahul Tripathi.