IPL 2022: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s varied bowling gives them an extra edge in competition dominated by batters – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

When franchise owners and coaches sat down for the IPL auction two months back, one of the necessities of the Sunrisers Hyderabad was to have plenty of variation in the bowling department. Over the past few years, the Men in Orange have always built their teams around a strong bowling unit.

It is no different in 2022. The Sunrisers might lack power hitters with the willow, but have a set of bowlers that offer a lot of variety. On Monday night at the DY Patil Stadium, it was this different style of bowlers that paved the way for the Sunrisers’ second win of the season.

The five primary bowlers that played against the Gujarat Titans were all different. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a genuine swing bowler who can take wickets with the new ball in the powerplay. Marco Jansen is tall, has pace, is left-handed and prefers to hit the hard length. T Natarajan is also a left-armer but is more skiddy and a death-over specialist.

Sunrisers Hyderabad are blessed with different types of bowlers and that is their biggest strength. Image: Sportzpics

Umran Malik is fast, and inconsistent, but offers a sense of unpredictability. Then there is Washington Sundar, who can tweak his off-breaks during the powerplay or during the middle phase of the innings. As evident on Monday night, there was no sense of sameness to the bowling.

All these aspects matter highly in the data-centric T20 cricket. Teams prepare for each game by ensuring there are two or three ideal match-ups for each batter or a bowler. But when a team like Hyderabad has so many options and different style of bowlers it can often become a headache for the opposition to find an ideal match-up. Alternatively, the Sunrisers have so many options to unsettle the opposition.

Bhuvneshwar bowled a horrible first over, but Kane Williamson backed him to bowl a second over in the powerplay. The ball was swinging and Williamson knew Gill is prone to driving against the newish the ball. Bhuvneshwar provided the breakthrough by dismissing Gill in his second over. The first task was accomplished.

In between the tall Jansen built up the pressure by hitting a completely different length to Bhuvneshwar. An over later, Williamson introduced Sundar, the off-spinner, into the attack. Some attacks can be predictable, but the powerplay on Monday night by the Sunrisers attack was a good example of why they are a difficult bowling unit to plan against.

Jansen’s steep bounce on a pitch that was slightly two-paced made it even more difficult for the Titans batters. A good example was the wicket of Sai Sudharsan. He was shaken up by a short ball from Jansen and then succumbed to Natarajan because he was unable to transfer his weight forward. While both the left arm pacers operated cunningly, the raw pace of Malik trapped Wade plumb in front. The thunderbolt from Malik was nearly 20km/h quicker than Natarajan’s bowling. It was the sudden change of pace that made the difference. It was yet another example of how the variety in the attack can unravel the opposition.

The SRH bowlers also relished the death overs last night. Natarajan led the way for Sunrisers by constantly executing the yorker. Even a player like Hardik Pandya was unable to get under the ball or hit a boundary. The challenge for a batter against the Sunrisers attack is that Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar can execute slower deliveries and at the same time find the blockhole as was evident in the last three overs of the innings last night.

The Titans could only manage 36 runs from the last four overs. They would have expected more with Pandya at the crease and six wickets in hand. At the end of the game, Pandya admitted they were 10 runs short and credited the Sunrisers bowlers.

Having variation in the attack doesn’t guarantee success, but it certainly offers a dimension that not many teams have in the IPL.

The Sunrisers are fortunate and have built their team around it. For two consecutive matches, the Sunrisers have restricted their opposition with their bowling. There is no doubt that the Sunrisers’ batting lacks potency and often struggles to chase totals in excess of 170. But if the bowlers can continue to limit the opponents to moderate totals, it allows the likes the Williamson and Abhishek Sharma to play their natural games. The pair doesn’t have to find another gear in their respective batting and the team can still manage to chase down scores in the 160 range.

It is fair to say on placid batting tracks, Sunrisers simply don’t have the power-hitting to compete with the best teams. But on pitches that offer assistance to bowlers, the multi-faceted bowling unit of the Sunrisers makes them capable of competing with any opposition.

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