Look sharp, think smart

Adam Gilchrist said earlier this week that as the game gets shorter, the role of the captain is getting bigger. Nothing could describe the Twenty20 situation better.

Why is leading a Twenty20 side different and more difficult than leading in other formats? Cricket played over five days or spread over two 50-overs innings should logically be far more taxing than the slam-bang three-hour Twenty20. Well, Twenty20 defies logic time and again, for it isn't a thinking man's game; which is not to say that you don't need to be smart to play it.

Not too long ago, just as this format was beginning to gain popularity, players tended to treat Twenty20s like ODIs. In the 50-over format the best bowlers are kept for the Powerplay and the death overs, under the assumption that batsmen are most aggressive during these periods. The other bowlers are reserved for the middle overs, when the batsmen are expected to go a little easy. But when applied to Twenty20, this strategy failed. With eight an over considered par, and the luxury of being able to lose 10 wickets over 20 overs, batsmen remain on the offensive all through.

Bowling changes
It's no longer mandatory to give your best bowler the first over. In fact, it's often smart to start with a part-time bowler, since most batsmen take at least a couple of deliveries to gauge the pace and bounce of the track. But you must know the batsmen's strengths and pick the bowlers accordingly. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start with a spinner against David Warner, who is usually more comfortable against pace.

Also, you need to not get carried away by an economical first over, because the same bowler can go for plenty in his next. Batsmen tend to size up the bowler in his first few deliveries and mark their scoring areas for the next over. More often than not, the second over is more important than the first, so that should be bowled by your best medium-pacer.

Rotating your bowlers in the first six overs will work if your bowlers are comfortable bowling one- or two-over spells. Shane Warne does it successfully, often using up to five different bowlers in the first seven overs without letting the batsmen get away. Gautam Gambhir used Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra to counter Bangalore's overseas openers in the first six overs. It's like a game of chess, where you try to preempt the opposition's moves. At times you let the opposition score in the first six overs because you think it will be easier to pull things back once the ball gets old, and on other occasions you stifle the batsmen at the top to create pressure.

There are no foolproof methods to succeed, so you have to go with hunches. One wrong choice can change the momentum of the game. Brett Lee went for 25 in an over against Bangalore and Cameron White 19 in his solitary over against Delhi. A captain makes more bowling changes in a Twenty20 than he would in a 50-over game. You can always recover from a bad over in an ODI, but in a Twenty20 it is 5% of the innings and can cost you the game.

In terms of bowling, captains also have to keep in mind the hefty fines they can be slapped with for slow over-rates.

Batting line-up
Deciding the batting order isn't easy in Twenty20s. When do you send in your best striker? Warne uses Yusuf Pathan according to the demands of the situation and Tendulkar has done the same with Kieron Pollard. It's tempting to give the big hitters the chance to get the most strike, but it may not always be the wise option. Bangalore have assigned Kallis the sheet-anchor's role, and given the rest the licence to go berserk around him. Most other teams haven't done the same. Kings XI Punjab tried to give Ravi Bopara the same role but he never had in-form hitters around him.

The captain also has to pick the right overseas players for every game. He's usually spoilt for choice and it must be tempting to want players like Tillakaratne Dilshan or Sanath Jayasuriya in the XI even when they aren't in form, and difficult to leave out someone like Dale Steyn.

Changing the field
The captain and the bowlers need to work out the fielding positions for every delivery: get third man inside the circle for a slower one, have mid-off in the circle for a bouncer. Bowlers need to assume leadership and the wicketkeeper and the fielders must chip in too, because it's hard for the captain to keep tabs on everything. The keeper is often assigned the role of getting the fielders in the right positions. In the match against Bangalore, Gambhir didn't notice there were only three fielders inside the circle, but the keeper, Dinesh Karthik, stopped the game to get a player in.

But there is still more to leading a Twenty2O side, particularly in the IPL. You have to know and remember the strengths of all your players, understand their temperaments, and how they will react to different situations in the middle.

The time-outs
We have seen teams lose momentum and falter after the breaks. Fielding captains can use the time-outs to their advantage - as the batsmen tend to take a few deliveries to get back into the groove - and slip in an over from a part-time bowler.

The teams that try to continue playing the way they did before the break often pay dearly. Mumbai lost two wickets against Deccan in the over after the break.

I wonder if Yuvraj Singh and Brendon McCullum will really complain about having lost the captaincy of their sides. It's certainly not an enviable job. Most captains will have aged a bit by the time the IPL ends.