A Jos Buttler special downs Sunrisers Hyderabad

It was a doubleheader Sunday in IPL today and the first match was between two struggling teams, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. In a surprising decision, Sunrisers Hyderabad dropped David Warner and made Kane Williamson the captain of the team. These midway change of captains never works out well in tournaments like IPL but the struggling team s still keep on making these decisions. There is a saying that when you look for excuses you never succeed and in Sunrisers case it was the same. David Warner was not the reason why Sunrisers have been struggling because after all, he is the only player in IPL history who has hit 50 half-centuries – it’s their weak middle order which has been letting them down. Unfortunately, they can’t get reinforcements in the middle of the tournament! 

I thought they might bolster their middle order by picking Holder in place of Warner or get Jason Roy but inexplicably they replaced him with MD. Nabi. It was a clear case of not understanding the situation because Nabi at best is an average cricketer whereas Jason Roy or Jason Holder can win you matches and they have proved it in the past. 

Rajasthan Royals have been troubled with a weakened squad due to injuries but they always fight back strong with weak teams! They have some genuine match-winners especially in their batting unit and players like Samson and Buttler can win you matches single-handedly. That’s what exactly happened yesterday as Jos Buttler brought up his maiden century in IPL to help Rajasthan win against the Sunrisers.

Let’s look at the hits and misses from yesterday’s match.

The hits:

Mustafizur Rahman had an excellent season in 2016 when he was the wrecker in chief for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He and David Warner were the primary architects along with Rashid khan which ensured Sunrisers winning the IPL that year. Mustafizur has not been in good form over the past couple of seasons but he is getting an extended run this year because of lack of personnel in Rajasthan Royals. This has worked well for him because over the last few matches the old “fizz” is back. Yesterday he bowled like the old Mustafizur that we know of. Sunrisers needed to chase 221 runs but Mustafizur didn’t allow any leeway and the batters struggled to take him for runs. In the process, he picked up 3 wickets too. His performance would be critical for Rajasthan royals as we move towards the second half of the tournament.

The match will be remembered for Jos Buttler. He was the difference between both the teams yesterday. Midway into the innings, it didn’t look like Rajasthan would be able to cross 180. Jos Buttler was 35  off 33 balls. It was Sanju Samson who was keeping the run rate ticking. But then he broke loose and in one over of MD. Nabi took out 21 runs and from there on there was no looking back. He finished at 124 runs off 64 balls to take Rajasthan Royals to 220 runs which was too much for Sunrisers to chase.

The misses:

Sunrisers have been struggling with the bat and it has been compounded further by not having a settled lineup. When Sunrisers have won matches on the previous two seasons it has all been about Bairstow and Warner with Williamson providing solidity in the middle. But with Warner not playing and Bairstow not in a big run making form it was expected to be a struggle for Sunrisers and that’s how it played out. They have tried out everyone without playing Priyam Garg once – guess it’s time to get him into the playing XI.

Bhubaneswar Kumar has been struggling throughout this IPL. This has been very surprising because he played very well against England recently. With Natarajan out with injury, too much pressure is on Rashid khan. But you can turn a match with 4 overs most of the time. No wonder the team is struggling because none of the bowlers other than Rashid khan is performing as per expectation. The problem is not David Warner – the problem is the rest of the team members who are having a very bad season.

What to look forward to?

Rajasthan Royals have to expect that Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler keep playing the way they are. They will also hope that Yashasvi Jaiswal doesn’t throw away his wicket after making a good start. Their seam bowling is doing well though their spin bowling department looks weak! They will hope that Rahul Tewatia plays a stellar role in the second half of the tournament. It was great to see Karthick Tyagi bowl yesterday. He was consistent with his line and length and he was able to generate good pace. He spent three months with the Indian team in Australia and I think that experience is showing. It’s a good omen for Indian cricket.

For Sunrisers Hyderabad they must be hoping the tournament to end asap. The playoffs look out of reach for them and their only hope would be to win some matches to bring some enjoyment to their fans. Can they do some turnaround like the one CSK did last season?

Let’s wait and watch!

What do you think? Will Rajasthan Royals be able to make the playoffs? Do write in as we await the next match which would be between KKr and RCB later tonight.

PS. We are not an object! We are a process!

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