Using his reasoning about Pat Cummins taking advantage of Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya’s propensity for the pull shot, Sunrisers Hyderabad assistant coach James Franklin stated that bowling units should have a thorough awareness of hitters’ aggressive scoring techniques in the IPL.
Knowing that Arya preferred to play the pull rather than an upper cut, SRH captain Cummins bluffed him with a bouncer outside the off-stump. Eshan Malinga caught Cummins at deep square leg after Arya fell into the trap.
“Obviously Pat Cummins and (head coach) Dan (Vettori) are very detailed and I think you have to be detailed nowadays because of how powerful batting units are, particularly top threes, top fours of all the IPL teams and particularly in the power plays,” PTI quoted Franklin as saying in the post-match press conference.
In their IPL match in Hyderabad on Wednesday, SRH defeated PBKS by 33 runs thanks in large part to Cummins’ 2/34 effort.
Franklin claimed that the pre-match input from the SRH bowling team assisted them in creating strategies for the raiding Punjab hitters, who have been outstanding in the chase thus far in this IPL.
“I think sometimes you don’t necessarily have to bowl the ball that the field is expecting and I think we saw the ball before that he bowled a pretty good bounce on the same sort of line and he obviously called the bluff a little bit, executed the same sort of delivery and created the opportunity.
“So, you know, where the strengths and weaknesses are of the opposition batters, obviously all our bowlers are well across it. So, that was the feedback that our bowling group got and obviously we used it a lot throughout Punjab innings,” he added.
Pacer T Natarajan was commended by the former New Zealand all-rounder for some excellent spells, especially in the final overs.
“I think he actually bowled pretty well for us at the back end of the competition and I think you roll forward another year he’s had that experience of playing an IPL before. He feels part of it now so he’s obviously come into this year’s IPL and got performances early and obviously that gives you confidence as a player.
“He’s able to have a level of consistency with how he’s been able to go about every game and execute. The different deliveries that he wants to bowl within the 24 balls that he gets in a game and he’s obviously creating opportunities and I think he’s up near the top of the purple cap,” he said.
The Sri Lankan pacer and Gujarat Titans’ Kagiso Rabada are now tied for second place in the bowling charts with 16 wickets.
Franklin was pleased with all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy’s consistent bat and ball contributions.
“He’s confident, he’s playing really well with the bat, and then the bowling as well. He’s probably just nudged his pace up a little bit this season. He’s swinging the new ball when he’s getting that opportunity to bowl in the power play and again he’s creating opportunities.”
