A golden opportunity awaits the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Under their new and inspiring leader, Pat Cummins, the Orange Army has a chance to lift their second IPL trophy. Eight years ago, it was David Warner who took them to ultimate glory. Now, it’s another Australian who has the chance to make SRH the fourth Australian to win more than one title.
Cummins in complete control
Pat Cummins’ bowling has been good, but it’s his captaincy that has set them apart. His use of impact players, giving his teammates freedom, and calm attitude despite facing setbacks have brought the SRH to the IPL 2024 Final. In Qualifier 2, he brought in Shahbaz Ahmed as the impact substitute, and it worked wonders.
The way Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are opening has been a revelation. But it’s not just them who have been fearless. All of their top and middle-order batters have a strike rate of 150 or higher, with Nitish Reddy being the only exception (143). Cummins also remained calm when they got thrashed by the Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier 1 and backed that up perfectly against the Rajasthan Royals.
Form a concern?
Abhishek and Head seemed to have lost form in the last couple of games. The Aussie has two ducks in the last three matches, while the Indian has scored 15 runs in the last two encounters. Reddy hasn’t done that well in the last four times he’s batted, scoring just 61 runs. Aiden Markram has been an abject failure, but Heinrich Klaasen, Rahul Tripathi, and Shahbaz have picked up their form with the bat.
Bowling might be a concern as well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, their best bowler, has been wicketless in his last three games. Mayank Markande, their best spinner, hasn’t struck enough and isn’t economical either. Jaydev Unadkat and Reddy have poor figures like Markande as well. However, Pat Cummins and T Natarajan have been splendid. Cummins might go for a few, but Natarajan has been miserly when it comes to runs and is the fourth-highest wicket-taker as well.
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IPL 2024 Final: SRH Predicted XI vs KKR
Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk). Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan.
Impact Substitutes: Umran Malik, Sanvir Singh, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Markande, Marco Jansen.
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