IPL 2020: MI vs SRH Game Plan 1 – Who will Sunrisers Hyderabad play in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar?
The 17th of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad, could all be about match-ups. We take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the fourteenth game of IPL 2020 – MI vs SRH.
MI vs SRH: Who will replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar if he is not available?
Even under normal circumstances, bowling to a Mumbai Indians batting line-up full of superstars would be a daunting task. Sunrisers Hyderabad might also not have their premier pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar after the injury sustained against Chennai Super Kings a couple of days ago.
Bhuvneshwar might not be at his wicket-taking best like three seasons ago but he had still done a pretty good job in the first four and a bit matches. In fact, during the Powerplay overs, Bhuvneshwar has only conceded 36 runs off eight overs while picking two wickets during the same phase. His absence only makes the task tougher for an SRH side that is already having to fill in their 5th bowlers’ quota with two part-timers, Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad.
MI vs SRH – Sandeep Sharma or Siddharth Kaul?
So, if Bhuvneshwar Kumar misses out, who comes in his place. Will it be Sandeep Sharma or Siddarth Kaul? Sandeep Sharma already played a game in this IPL against Royal Challengers Bangalore but he made way for Khaleel Ahmed immediately. Although Sandeep was expensive in that match, he did bowl a few quality yorkers during the death overs.
He has the advantage of having a pretty good record against Suryakumar Yadav in the last three seasons while the overall IPL numbers against MI skipper Rohit Sharma are very promising too. Although the sample size is small, Sandeep has also performed exceedingly well during the death overs between IPL 2018-19. With SRH expected to replace Bhuvneshwar, a player like Sandeep Sharma would be a decent fit as he shares the same attributes of bowling in the Powerplay and also during the death overs.
The other option for SRH, Siddarth Kaul also has a superb record against MI batsmen over the last three seasons. Only Keiron Pollard has really got a hold of him. Siddarth is a medium-pacer of a different profile to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma as he mainly operates during the middle-overs.
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Kaul hits the deck hard and also uses quite a slower deliveries usually. As a result, his numbers between overs 7-16 are also very good during the last two seasons.
Be it either Sandeep Sharma or Siddarth Kaul, the fact doesn’t change that SRH will need to finish Abhishek Sharma/Abdul Samad’s combined four overs before the likes of Hardik Pandya or Kieron Pollard arrive at the crease. It would be a massive challenge for two inexperienced spinners to bowl economically against world-class finishers. At the same time, SRH could possibly hold back just one over of Rashid Khan for the duo of Hardik Pandya and Keiron Pollard. Yes, the short boundaries at Sharjah could completely neutralize Rashid but a gamble can be taken due to his excellent record against all MI batsmen.
In the end, Sharjah has turned out to be a batsman vs batsman game. However, those 10-15 runs saved due to good tactical decisions could be the difference between a win and a loss for SRH in a match where they will go in as a slight underdog.