The former striker of India Mohammed Kaif raised concerns concerning the direction of Captain Pat Cummins, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) fell during the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Kaif questioned Cummins for not having used Zeeshan Ansari and Kamindu Mendis spinners after their defeat against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). For the UNversed, Ansari and Mendis won a counter each, Bowling three and one, respectively. Kaif also feared that the SRH could not recover after having undergone three defeats on the trot.
“The striker does not work, just like the case with the bowling alley. You also lose very badly. It is very difficult to come back from here.
“They also have no spinners. (Adam) Zampa did not play in this match. They went with Zeeshan and he did not give all his Overs. Mendis gave only one. He picked up a window there but was not given more.
Kaif suggested that SRH succumbs to pressure from expectations, having established a reputation to mark 250+ scores regularly last season.
“In the stick, 200 was a big target. I think they are under pressure because of what they did last year. When you are under the spotlight that Hyderabad would mark 300 or 250 this time, it is very difficult to repeat it under this pressure. You did it once,” he said.
Kaif also pointed out that other teams have somewhat found game plants for SRH strikers.
“The teams were not prepared the last time. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma could mark even 100 points in six overs, and they were not ready for this. However, I see the plans this time. They have bowling slower balls and short balls in Abhishek,” said Kaif.
However, SRH’s bowling coach James Franklin supported the destructive striker forces to return to their explosive manners after consecutive flop emissions.
“It did not work in the last two games. It can sometimes be the nature of the game we play and the way our strikers want to play the game. It was not our best things in the previous games. We have confidence in our group to play the attacker brand that we have shown in the past year,” Franklin told journalists during the post-match press conference.
“65 run the last four Overs probably reflect that we have not understood correctly. Halfway, KKR was 84 or 85/2. If we had managed the 10 Overs, we would probably have been able to keep them at 170-180, but that we did not have quite correctly. The execution was not correct,” he said.
“As a coach, sometimes you sit there and think, could we have done better? Could we have been technically a little more courageous to certain aspects? These are conversations that we will have in the coming days before leaving on Sunday. It is a reflection; it is between me and the players who were there, who will seek to come back better, in particular with the execution of death”, he added.
(With Ani entries)
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