Big Picture
Sunrisers Hyderabad are in only their third IPL season. Despite an impressive debut season in 2013, they slumped to sixth position last year under two different captains. They must be itching to make amends this year, and even bought Kevin Pietersen who pulled out later on. They then named David Warner as captain, who will lead a talent-heavy side resting on pillars of imported raw material, making them one of the strongest squads on paper this season.
But in their quest to start strong and afresh, they run into heavyweights Chennai Super Kings. If a team thinks they have a plan to beat Super Kings, they must rethink those and have plans B, C… till Z ready as back up. On Thursday Super Kings showed how to win a match even when Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina both fail. They showed how to defend 150 on an Indian pitch. They showed how to flaunt a bowling attack comprising only Indian frontline bowlers against a deep batting line-up and still win.
Some questions still remain about their weak link from last year - seam-bowling options. Barring Ashish Nehra, no other Super Kings fast bowler conceded less than 7.50 per over against Delhi Daredevils and if they want to make changes, they have Kyle Abbott, Matt Henry, Irfan Pathan and Andrew Tye waiting in the barracks. And a question everyone asks but it always goes unanswered - shouldn't MS Dhoni move up the order?
Unlike Super Kings, whose core is made up of domestic players, Sunrisers will draw their strength from overseas talent. To conceal a weak middle order, they would want their captain Warner, and former captain Shikhar Dhawan to fire upfront. Another contrasting factor in their ranks compared to Super Kings' is their lethal bowling line-up. Dale Steyn, Trent Boult, Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma. Pace, bounce, swing, seam, venom…you name it, they have it. It is bound to bring up some mouth-watering clashes such as McCullum v Boult, Raina v Steyn, Warner v Mohit, Dhawan v Nehra.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are in only their third IPL season. Despite an impressive debut season in 2013, they slumped to sixth position last year under two different captains. They must be itching to make amends this year, and even bought Kevin Pietersen who pulled out later on. They then named David Warner as captain, who will lead a talent-heavy side resting on pillars of imported raw material, making them one of the strongest squads on paper this season.
But in their quest to start strong and afresh, they run into heavyweights Chennai Super Kings. If a team thinks they have a plan to beat Super Kings, they must rethink those and have plans B, C… till Z ready as back up. On Thursday Super Kings showed how to win a match even when Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina both fail. They showed how to defend 150 on an Indian pitch. They showed how to flaunt a bowling attack comprising only Indian frontline bowlers against a deep batting line-up and still win.
Some questions still remain about their weak link from last year - seam-bowling options. Barring Ashish Nehra, no other Super Kings fast bowler conceded less than 7.50 per over against Delhi Daredevils and if they want to make changes, they have Kyle Abbott, Matt Henry, Irfan Pathan and Andrew Tye waiting in the barracks. And a question everyone asks but it always goes unanswered - shouldn't MS Dhoni move up the order?
Unlike Super Kings, whose core is made up of domestic players, Sunrisers will draw their strength from overseas talent. To conceal a weak middle order, they would want their captain Warner, and former captain Shikhar Dhawan to fire upfront. Another contrasting factor in their ranks compared to Super Kings' is their lethal bowling line-up. Dale Steyn, Trent Boult, Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma. Pace, bounce, swing, seam, venom…you name it, they have it. It is bound to bring up some mouth-watering clashes such as McCullum v Boult, Raina v Steyn, Warner v Mohit, Dhawan v Nehra.
No comments:
Post a Comment