Sunrisers Hyderabad will certainly look to introspect on their no-holds-barred attacking philosophy in a bid to stem the rot caused by a hat-trick of defeats as they face a buoyant Gujarat Titans in their fifth IPL encounter here on Sunday. Having started the tournament with a bang, scoring 286 in the opening game, SRH’s template of attack at all costs has boomeranged in the next three games with team totals of 190, 163, and 120 to show for their efforts.
They are currently placed 10th in the league table and it seems like the team under multiple world champion skipper Pat Cummins is imploding.
Last year’s runners-up are unable to find the right balance between aggression and ultra-aggression with most of their batting stars coming dud in the past three encounters.
To their relief, SRH would be back in Hyderabad at the Uppal Stadium, which is known for run feasts. Even in the match against Lucknow Super Giants, which SRH lost, the hosts had scored 190 — a total that was more a reflection of their batters’ profligacy than the opposition’s bowling. But Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen have to do much better in order to keep SRH interested towards the business end as a couple of more losses could push them towards a point of no return.
The bowling also seems to be a concern as none of the bowlers save young leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari (4 wickets at ER 9.75) has looked menacing. Skipper Cummins has been hammered at an economy rate of 12.30 runs per over, while countrymate Adam Zampa has gone at an ER of 11.75. Veteran Mohammed Shami has also been expensive, conceding 10 runs per over.
Such has been SRH’s plight, none of their premier bowlers have bowled full quota of four overs in all four games. Titans, at the other end, are slowly gaining momentum and would be raring to go after a smashing win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy with batting mainstay Jos Buttler hitting the straps.
With B Sai Sudharsan providing solidity at the top alongside skipper Shubman Gill and Buttler coming in at one drop, Titans’ batting arsenal bears a solid look.
Sherfane Rutherford and Rahul Tewatia are two big-hitting finishers in the middle-order with Shahrukh Khan looking like the only weak link.
The Titans will however be hamstrung by the absence of their pace bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who has gone back home due to personal reasons. It will be interesting to see who will replace Rabada for the upcoming game. If the Titans aim to strengthen their batting, then Glenn Phillips — who also bowls off-spin and is currently regarded as the world’s best fielder — should be the obvious choice.
However, if it’s a like-for-like replacement, South African fast bowler Gerald Coetzee stands a good chance. Alternatively, if they are looking for a pure all-rounder, Afghanistan’s Karim Janat could be considered.
The onus will be on Mohammed Siraj, who has been in fantastic rhythm and lanky Prasidh Krishna to create pressure with the new ball.
The mystery element around Rashid Khan has waned a bit and more and more batters are using the depth of the crease and rocking onto the backfoot to play him as a medium pacer who bowls off-cutters. But R Sai Kishore’s lion-hearted efforts mean that Titans have a better all-round bowling attack than SRH.
