5 attacking field placements in IPL history

While the idea of appointing fielding positions like short leg, slips, and silly point in a T20 game might sound bizarre and alien but such have been the instances in the IPL 2021 especially when the matches are happening in Chennai.

The beauty of the IPL is that not all games are high-scoring events and by playing in places like Chennai and Delhi, sometimes the bowlers do enjoy some extra advantage over batters. While the recent matches might have brought back the glimpses of setting attacking fields, in the IPL’s 14-year history, there have also been some other interesting games where such witty tactics have yielded teams some fabulous wins.

5 attacking field placements set by clever captains in IPL history

1. MI vs KKR (IPL 2021)

While MI’s recent win against KKR at the Chepauk stadium, surely was a blessing victory for the team, what really fascinating was watching someone like Kieron Pollard stand at a silly point that too against the likes of Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik. The idea of having Krunal Pandya’s two overs in the back end turned out a master strategy for Rohit Sharma, as the KKR team while chasing a below-par score of 152 made a mockery of their run chase.

With a score of 123 for 5, the KKR team only needed 30 runs from their last 5 overs and with Andre Russell joining Dinesh Karthik at the crease, the match was highly expected to be bagged by KKR. However, with the track providing sufficient aid to the bowlers, skipper Rohit Sharma made an impressive move of attacking Andre Russell with a slip and a silly point. A fielder like Kieron Pollard, who mainly guards the long-on and long-off region, was posted at a silly point which clearly indicated that Pollard was meant to hound Russell.

The close-in fielders certainly refrained Andre Russell from changing strike whose instant effects then became visible when he chipped a full delivery bowled Krunal Pandya straight into the bowler’s hands. Although the catch was dropped by Krunal Pandya, the shot, in particular, indicated Russel’s discomfort at the crease. All in all, Rohit’s tactic of keeping an aggressive field during Krunal Pandya’s bowling never allowed the KKR’s batting duo to get settled and in the end, the MI team won the game by a margin of 10 runs.