How bowlers are dealing with the high-scoring conditions in Sharjah
Field placements have come to the fore at the high-scoring ground
Instead of using a conventional deep third-man and fine leg, the point and square-leg fielders patrol the fence. Captains may start with a slip in place, with the third-man fielder standing almost next to him inside the circle. The line of attack would be fifth stump, and the length a little short of driving length. The extra protection at deep point ensures that unless the ball is really short outside off, you won't get hit for a boundary behind point. Also, if you are trying to exploit the fact that the fielders at third man and fine leg are inside the circle, you can't do it without taking risks. Another option is to move one of the fielders from the off side to short midwicket.
The second fielding configuration we have seen put in motion during the powerplay overs (for both fast and slow bowlers) is five fielders inside the circle on the off side. The two fielders on the fence in this plan are deep square-leg and long-on. With this field, the bowler looks to bowl as straight as possible; anything that provides room gets easily dispatched through or over the ring on the off side. Ideally, one must not slip down the leg side, and the length is equally critical - it must never be short enough to be pulled.
At most venues, you get a respite after the powerplay overs are done, but not in Sharjah. And that's when we have seen fast bowlers at their innovative best. The four fielders inside the circle are third man, fine leg, extra cover, and a straight-ish mid-on. Deep point is fairly straight, and the other boundary fielder in that region is protecting the cover boundary. Wide yorkers are used quite liberally in this sort of field setting. But since you don't want to be too predictable with regard to line and length, there are two fielders patrolling the square-leg and deep-midwicket fence. The mid-on fielder is inside the circle because most batsman tend to drag the ball towards midwicket when they're trying to muscle it. We rarely see batsmen going with a straight bat over the bowler's head in the death overs.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra is the author of three books, the latest of which is The Insider: Decoding the craft of cricket. @cricketaakash