EXCLUSIVE
Follow UsSunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) succumbed to a 61-run loss in their first game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 against Rajasthan Royals (RR). They were not disciplined with the ball and with the bat, they failed to get going. Barring a late flourish from Aiden Markram (57* off 41) and Washington Sundar (40 off 14), none of them stepped up to the plate and with the ball, they bowled plenty of no-balls, giving the RR batters freebies.
SRH went in with an extra batting option in Romario Shepherd and as a result, were a little weak in their bowling department. Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith believes the inclusion of Marco Jansen, who was bought for INR 4.2 crore in the auction, could have changed all that.
“They probably went for a slightly better batter. Jansen's batting a little bit away. But from a bowling perspective, Jansen would have added a lot of firepower with the new ball on this type of surface,” Smith said on Cricket.com.
“Maybe they are a bit defensive as a bowling unit. Jansen could have changed that for them. He is a wicket-taker and can open a game up.
“A lot of question marks for SRH. Tactically with the bat. I think [Nicholas] Pooran was in early and I would swap Markram and become situational. Pooran was always going to struggle with the new ball. Another day when the wicket is flat, send him in at four and take it on. Don't be predictable. Look at the game, read the situations and make informed decisions.”
Smith was impressed with the way Prasidh Krishna bowled and reckons he is a bright prospect for India.
“He bowled with pace and got the ball to swing. He used the conditions beautifully,” Smith said.
“The challenge for Prasidh is going to be as things get slightly drier, the conditions in India get hotter, spin will play a role and the wickets get flatter how he adapts from a skill perspective.
“Tonight all he had to do was to bowl quick, get the basics right, that top of off stump with a bit of away shape and didn't he do that well. Looks like he has got all the capabilities to be an excellent prospect for India.”
The SRH spinners – Sundar and Abhishek Sharma – went for 62 runs in the four overs between them. Are Hyderabad missing Rashid Khan? Smith certainly thinks so.
“Washington really struggled tonight. There wasn't a lot of spin, so he really had to be accurate, stump to stump, which he didn't do,” Smith who has scored over 17,000 international runs said.
“They have got so used to having Rashid in the middle overs and key times in the game and it is going to be difficult someone to replace that. Where they struggled is that they needed early wickets on that type of surface.
“We saw the Royals do it, they hit the good areas, a little bit of swing. Bhuvi's [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] no-ball cost them. If you have the team two or three down in the powerplay when the surface is offering a bit of space bounce and swing, it can change the landscape.
“But once the Royals, got a solid start, it was really set up in the powerplay towards the backend. The base was set for them to strike.”
SRH will look to bounce back in their next match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday (April 4) at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai. RR, on the other day, take on five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the same venue on Saturday (April 2).
