 "Trent Boult")
Trent Boult might not be playing international cricket often, but when it comes to shining on the biggest stage, he is one of the best in the business. With the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 approaching for his team Rajasthan Royals (RR) against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Boult would once again be the go-to man for skipper Sanju Samson, mainly for the reason that in big games, he is a different beast altogether.
Thunder-Boult in the finals
Dismissal Rate (DR) is the number of balls taken to dismiss a player. The DR of Boult in non-final games of the IPL is 19.9 across 92 games ever since he made his debut. His Economy Rate (ER) is 8.4 in that same period. However, when it comes to finals, it improves steeply as DR goes as low as 16.5 and ER to nearly one run less per over at 7.4.
| RR Bowler | IPL Group Stages | IPL Final Stages | ||||
| Innings | ER | DR | Innings | ER | DR | |
| Trent Boult | 92 | 8.4 | 19.9 | 9 | 7.4 | 16.5 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 148 | 7.9 | 16.7 | 9 | 7.3 | 21.6 |
| Ravi Ashwin | 184 | 7.1 | 25.2 | 22 | 7.5 | 24.2 |
Equally opposite numbers for Virat Kohli
While Boult is thunderous in the IPL finals, Virat Kohli, who is going to be his major target in the Eliminator, has equally opposite records. He averages 40 in the 229 innings of non-final games and strikes at 132. But when it comes to finals, his average goes down to 25.7 and his strike rate to 120. Two other major RCB batters, Faf Du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik, also performed poorly in the finals compared to non-final games in the IPL.
| RCB Batter | IPL Group Stages | IPL Final Stages | ||||
| Innings | SR | Ave | Innings | SR | Ave | |
| Virat Kohli | 229 | 132 | 40.1 | 14 | 120 | 25.7 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 213 | 137 | 23.4 | 17 | 112 | 18.1 |
| Faf du Plessis | 123 | 137 | 39.8 | 14 | 131 | 28.7 |
With the match-up not in favour of Boult otherwise against Kohli, the 35-year-old would hope to make the best use of his final form at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
