Aakash Chopra highlighted that SunRisers Hyderabads batters failed to deliver in the IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He underlined that the IPL 2016 champions had to lean on Pat Cummins to get them out of trouble.
Sunrisers Hyderabad experienced a tough outing being dismissed for 159 after they chose to bat first in Ahmedabad on Tuesday May 21. Kolkata Knight Riders comfortably chased down the belowpar target securing a berth in the final in Chennai on Sunday May 26 with an emphatic eightwicket victory and 38 balls to spare.
In a video posted on his YouTube account, Aakash Chopra reflected on SRH’s batting and noted that they fell well short of a fighting total despite Cummins’ courageous 24-ball 30.
“Pat Cummins tried. Pat can bat but how will it work out if only Pat has to bat? He became the third-highest run-scorer of the Hyderabad batting unit but the team was left way behind. This team got all out for the first time while batting first. The intention was to score 250 and even 175 remained very far.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener pointed out that Mitchell Starc’s early strokes put SRH in a difficult situation.
“Travis Head was sent immediately to the pavilion by Arshdeep (Singh) in the last match and Mitchell Starc in this match. Starc first dismissed Travis Head for zero and then Nitish Reddy tried to hit across the line and the ball went straight up in the air. He dismissed Shahbaz Ahmed off the next ball. He was on a hat-trick in the powerplay overs itself.”
Aakash Chopra
Starc had numbers of 3/34 in four overs. He removed Travis Head (0), Nitish Kumar Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) in his first three overs.
“He played many unconventional shots” – Aakash Chopra on SRH’s Rahul Tripathi
Aakash Chopra lauded Rahul Tripathi for his adventurous performance after SRH lost four wickets in the Powerplay.
“Abhishek Sharma also got out. Hyderabad’s Charminar was dismissed in the powerplay itself. It seemed it was impossible to emerge from there. Rahul Tripathi batted well for some time. He played many unconventional shots. He tries less to play with the straight bat.”
Aakash Chopra
While praising Heinrich Klaasen for a couple great smashes, the renowned analyst observed that the South African wicketkeeper-batter’s dismissal, followed by Tripathi’s run-out, bode problems for SRH.
“Heinrich Klaasen played well. His six-hitting ability is different. He hits short-pitched balls with a straight bat. Don’t know how he does that but he does. When he too got out, the innings stumbled. Abdul Samad came after that. He anyway comes riding a horse but Rahul Tripathi got run out. When Rahul Tripathi got run out, it wasn’t going to happen.”
Aakash Chopra
Chopra observed that Abdul Samad lacked cricketing acumen, since he threw away his wicket shortly after Tripathi was dismissed. He also said that Washington Sundar, who was ejected for a golden duck, would have been a better choice as an impact player.