Everyone knows Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) Achilles heel. It’s hardly a mystery that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 finalists are a batting-dependent unit. If the batters fire, it’s all merry. If they don’t, well, it’s a trainwreck. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) showed that on March 28.
SRH have got some of the most destructive batters T20 has ever seen. That’s why they went from 29/3 to 201. But, what’s the good of having a team with the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Travis Head, and Heinrich Klaasen when you lose in just 15.4 overs?
Sunrisers’ bowling is paper-thin. Eshan Malinga is the only regular international bowler they have. Even with Pat Cummins, SRH weren’t that good. But without him, they look lost. David Payne, an unheard name for most, was their powerplay bowler. They’ve filled their team with untested domestic bowlers, but the issue is that the tested ones aren’t doing well in the first name.
Why Liam Livingstone can’t play
Going into the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) match, one wonders whether they can even make changes. It’s not because they did well, but because they don’t have an option. Liam Livingstone, someone whom they paid INR 13 crore for at the auction, can’t even find a spot.
If they pull one of Payne or Eshan Malinga, who was their best bowler last season, they won’t have any high-quality bowlers left. Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel are fine bowlers, but they can’t lead attacks. Harshal is useful only after the powerplay, while Unadkat has always been a hit-or-miss type bowler in the IPL. But SRH can’t really drop any of them. So, making changes seems futile.
Because the batting fired well, despite the early departures of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek, and Head. Livingstone will have to warm the bench. In fact, one wonders why they even bought him. Clearly, the issue was the bowling, and his part-time off-spin and leg-spin couldn’t have solved the problem. So, for now, SRH must stick to their guns. Try to out-bat the opposition and hope their bowlers are able to execute their plans.
Predicted SRH Playing XI vs KKR
| S. No. | Player | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abhishek Sharma | Opener |
| 2 | Travis Head✈️ | Opener |
| 3 | Ishan Kishan (c & wk) | Top-order batter |
| 4 | Nitish Kumar Reddy | Batting all-rounder (pace) |
| 5 | Heinrich Klaasen✈️ | Middle-order batter |
| 6 | Salil Arora | Middle-order batter |
| 7 | Aniket Verma | Finisher |
| 8 | Harshal Patel | Bowling all-rounder (pace) |
| 9 | Harsh Dubey | Bowling all-rounder (spin) |
| 10 | Jaydev Unadkat | Left-arm fast bowler |
| 11 | Eshan Malinga✈️ | Right-arm fast bowler |
| 12 (Impact Sub) | David Payne✈️ | Left-arm fast bowler |
Cricket
Rishabh Pant promotes himself as LSG opener to overturn IPL fortunes, but luck goes against him
