Aakash Chopra praised Travis Head for his match-winning innings in the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) IPL 2024 match against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
SRH set MI a massive 278-run total after being allowed to bat first in Hyderabad on Wednesday, March 27. Head scored 62 runs off 24 deliveries. The home team then held Hardik Pandya and company to 246/5, securing a 31-run victory.
In a video posted to his YouTube account, Chopra noticed that Head practically repeated his damaging knock from the ODI World Cup final against India.
“Travis Head came and destroyed. It seems like he destroys any team that wears a blue jersey. First Indians and then Mumbai Indians. If there is a match against him, wear a yellow or purple jersey, or Rajasthan’s pink one, because he is not sparing the blue ones. He has been absolutely stellar.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener also complimented the other SunRisers Hyderabad hitters for putting their explosive style to the forefront.
“Travis Head hit and then Abhishek Sharma did the job Head was doing. He hit a lot and batted extremely well. From where he left, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen hit. (Jasprit) Bumrah came in the end but they didn’t stop.”
Aakash Chopra
Abhishek Sharma scored 63 runs off just 23 deliveries, including three fours and seven sixes. Aiden Markram (42* off 28) and Heinrich Klaasen (80* off 34) then put together an unbroken 116-run fourth-wicket stand to propel the SunRisers Hyderabad to an IPL record total.
Aakash Chopra Applauds Pat Cummins for Bowling Crucial Overs in SRH’s Victory
Aakash Chopra praised Pat Cummins for making good use of his time.
“I think Pat Cummins’ bowling was the game-changing thing. He bowled his four overs in different spells. He bowled the difficult overs, which we criticize him for, that he doesn’t do that, but he did that this time.”
Aakash Chopra
The cricketer-turned-commentator believes Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling in the middle overs swung the game in SunRisers Hyderabad’s favor.
“He used his fingers very well. He was outstanding. There was a three-over phase in between, Pat Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were bowling, where Mumbai were suddenly left behind and Hyderabad went ahead. I think that is where it actually changed.”
Aakash Chopra
The Mumbai Indians scored just 25 runs between the 13th and 16th overs. While Cummins surrendered only three runs in the 15th over, Bhuvneshwar and Jaydev Unadkat handed up only five runs each in the one over they bowled at that time.
