Yadav’s pace display could nudge SRH to unleash Umran

WATCHINGLUCKNOWSUPERGIANTS’MAYANK Yadavnotchup150kph-plusdeliveriesagainst Royal Challengers Bengaluru would have remindedsunrisershyderabadfansoftheirvery own Umran Malik, who had burst onto the sceneandrattledthebatterswithhisthunderbolts.however,sincehisbreakthroughseason in 2022, where he picked up 22 wickets at an average of 20.18, and an economy rate of 9.03, Malik has gone off the boil.

Lastseason,hemadeeightappearancesfor thefranchiseandpickedfivewicketswhilegiving away 10.85 runs an over. If someone is as quick as Malik his ability to pick wickets takes precedence over his economy rate.

On the eve of the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s head coach Daniel Vettori said, “He is certainly within the plans. In the second game against Mumbai, he became an impact player. We have observed him in training & have been impressed ...”

Thesurfacesinhyderabadhavenothelped Malik this season. So far they have got slower as the match progressed and brought into play bowlerswhohavemastery over using slower cutters. “The number of surfaces we have played on have been conducive to slowerball cutters,” Vettori said.”

Slower-ball cutters are not Umran’s strength. “We know Umran’s strength is bowling fast and hitting the length. Whenweseethatopportunitywewilltakeit,” Vettori added.

When the Jammu and Kashmir pacer did well for SRH in 2022, the majority of IPL was played in Mumbai and Pune where the redsoil pitches offered bounce and were quick enough, which suited his style of bowling.

In addition to the surfaces not supporting him in Hyderabad last season, then skipper Aiden Markram and head coach Brian Lara couldnotfindtherightroleforhiminthebowling unit. Markram would use Malik in the Powerplay. Using Malik after the powerplay would have given the 24-year-old a bit of leeway—withprotectionavailableoutsidethe30yard ring — if he was not accurate enough.

Against Gujarat Titans in the previous game, one thing SRH skipper Pat Cummins struggled was to manage the overs of his spinnersinthemiddle.healsowouldhavewished for a genuine wicket-taker in the same phase. Since the departure of Rashid Khan the side haslackedthemiddle-oversenforcer.mayank Markande has started the season poorly going at 11.27 from three games.

This is where there is an opportunity for SRH to use Malik as a middle-over enforcer in the ongoing season, similar to Mayank role for LSG. Mayank has bowled all but one over inside the Powerplay.

Under Kane Williamson, Malik was used in the middle overs with fielders placed on square boundaries and behind the wicket to grab opportunities produced by the hurried pull shots and ramp shots induced by the extremepace.malik’sspellagainstgujarattitans atwankhede,whenhepickedupfivewickets, was the young pacer operating at the peak of his powers. Shubman Gill who is one of the betterplayersofquickbowlinghadtroublefacing Malik. This pace combined with Williamson’ssmartfieldplacementforcedgill to dance down the track and look to play 150kph delivery through covers, which he missed and got bowled.

Not only can Malik’s inclusion help the team control the middle overs, but it can also add outright pace to a bowling attack which comprises medium pacers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Jaydev Unadkat.