Batting aggression and its different facets in this IPL

Aggression does not have a one-size-fits-all template.

- Somshuvra Laha

KOLKATA: Ask Sunrisers Hyderabad who, despite not changing their approach, have plummeted to 120 after threatening to mow down the 300-run barrier in the matter of three games. And then there are the Kolkata Knight Riders.

They were smarting from a crushing defeat in Mumbai but still showed the enterprise to pace their way to 200. Tellingly, they have found this spirit collectively and through a variety of sources, but most crucially by acquiring a sense of responsibility in the batting. The result? A glaring gap between the two teams.

There is more to it than what meets the eye of course. Acquiring a trend now is the way Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have been dismissed early by KKR pacers three matches in a row. Which in turn starts to dispute the see-ball, hit-ball theory that seemed to be working fine not so long ago. Quite predictably, they are still getting backed.