IPL 2018: The Secrets behind SRH's defensive excellence

Following their loss to the Chennai Super Kings back on April 22, the Sunrisers Hyderabad suddenly found themselves without the services of their two best bowlers. Spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to be rested while Australian speedster Billy Stanlake was ruled out of the entire tournament. In addition to that, their star spinner Rashid Khan had been taken to the cleaners in two games against Kings XI Punjab and CSK.

Clearly, they were in trouble but after defending scores of 118, 132 and 151 in three consecutive games, it is now quite clear that SRH possess the best bowling attack in the whole tournament. In the absence of their inspirational captain David Warner, New Zealander Kane Williamson has led them brilliantly as well and they now find themselves at the top of the table. So, how did they manage to defend these paltry scores and what is the secret behind this defensive excellence? Here are some factors that could clear up the mystery a bit.

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#4 Shakib Al Hasan’s control

There are very few spinners in world cricket who can bowl Shakib Al Hasan’s brand of crafty, quick, accurate left-arm orthodox spin and not only squeeze the runs but also pick up wickets. He is one part of a pair of an excellent spinning duo and his primary responsibility is to give the team some control in the middle-overs. In each of the last three defensive displays from the SRH bowling unit, his performances stood out.

Against MI (defending 118), he returned figures of 1-16, while against KXIP (defending 132) Shakib took 2 for 18 in his quota of overs and in the latest game, he did not take any wickets but went for only 30 runs in his four overs. That is the sort of throttling that often goes unnoticed due to the speed at which he goes through his overs and before long the opponents realize that the asking rate has mounted. It is a slow squeeze and has perhaps gone a bit unnoticed in SRH’s three superb victories so far.

#3 Rashid Khan’s immense comeback

The Afghan spinner, who is currently the best T20 bowler in the world, seemed to have gone into a bit of a tailspin after he was hit for 55 and 49 (in his full quota of 4 overs) in consecutive games against KXIP and CSK respectively. When it seemed Rashid Khan was down and out, he made certain alterations in his bowling and returned in a devastating new avatar. First up, he was bowling a little fuller in those games in which he conceded all those runs and hence, he altered his length.

Against MI he took 2-11 in 4 and bowled more back of a length delivery. That template continued and in addition to that, he cut down on the number of goolies. It was perhaps becoming predictable and hence, the change. He repeated the performance in the defence of 132 against KXIP when he took 3-19. His rejuvenation as a top class spinner has perhaps been one of the biggest reasons why SRH have turned into a low total defending machine.

#2 Williamson’s captaincy

One thing that can never be discounted when it comes to defending small totals is the role of the captain. After all, he is the one who decides who will bowl when and what pairs of bowlers will work well in a given situation. In that regard, Kane Williamson has been almost flawless in the last three games and the way he conducted the squeeze on the opposition was nothing short of masterly. For instance, in the game against MI, he did not allow the batsmen to settle and every other over of seam was followed by one of spin and vice versa. That sort of adjustment every other over in a tense chase can be disorienting and eventually it paid rich dividends.

In Sunday’s game against RR, he was missing the services of the Afghan off-spinner Mohammad Nabi but instead he turned to Yusuf Pathan to roll his arm over and the plan worked as he sent back the dangerous Ben Stokes. The precise usage of the resources and introducing bowlers at the right time against the right batsmen are absolutely paramount when it comes to defending small totals. Williamson has done it expertly in this run of three wins.

#1 Seam bowling reserves

A bowling attack that loses two of its best bowlers is unlikely to be much of a threat to batting line-ups in the IPL but for SRH, the dual loss of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Billy Stanlake did not have that sort of an impact. In came Sandeep Sharma and his swing, seam movement and accuracy allowed SRH to replace the same attributes that Kumar offered at the start of the innings. Stanlake was replaced by Basil Thampi and his pace, coupled with inch-perfect yorkers at the death has made him one of the most important members of the bowling attack. He regularly keeps things tight at the death.

No other team can boast of such seam bowling reserves and a lot of the credit has to go to the team management, who seemed to be hell-bent on stockpiling domestic fast bowlers in the auction this year. Last but certainly not the least, the performance of Siddharth Kaul has been magnificent over the course of the tournament and following the absence of the two premier fast bowlers, he has lifted his game. He went for less than 6 runs an over in these three games and picked up 5 wickets to provide the perfect cover for the other bowlers. It is a peerless bowling attack.