3 things Daniel Vettori needs to change at SRH in IPL 2024
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have named Daniel Vettori as their head coach for the upcoming IPL season, replacing Brian Lara in that position. IPL 2023 was a season to forget for SRH, who finished rock-bottom of the points table with only four wins in 14 games. This was especially tough on fans as they had a good team on paper, with many experts predicting they would make the playoffs.
Vettori isn't new to the task of coaching in the IPL, having already been the head coach of RCB from IPL 2014 to IPL 2018. He has held multiple other coaching positions since then, including the spin bowling coach of the Bangladesh national team as well as the head coach of the Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League 2021.
He's currently the head coach of the Birmingham Phoenix men's team as well as the assistant and spin-bowling coach of the Australian national side.
With such an experienced figure taking charge of the side, the management should feel more confident heading into another IPL season. However, it won't be at all easy for the former NZ captain.
On that note, let's take a look at three things he has to change at SRH this season.
#3 The captain
This should be very harsh on Aiden Markram, but he might not be SRH's best choice as a captain going forward. It's still unclear whether or not Markram had enough influence on the team selection and playing XIs, but his lack of clarity in making on-field decisions cost SRH a few games.
The most notable of these decisions was in their defeat to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the second half of last season. With LSG requiring 69 runs to win in the last five overs, his choice to give the all-important 16th over to part-timer Abhishek Sharma backfired as the over went for 31 runs, turning the game on its head.
Considering his stint with Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20, Markram is a good captain, but with his own performance not up to the mark, his position as captain prevented the team from dropping him. Under a new coach, it makes more sense to go with an Indian captain for the upcoming season to provide more flexibility in terms of selection.
#2 The batting order
The SRH batting order kept constantly changing throughout the season, with not one batter batting at the same position for the entirety of the campaign. Now it's debatable whether that was the reason for the underperformance of their batters, but with such little role clarity and stability in the batting order, the SRH batters didn't have enough time to build rhythm in one batting position.
Every batter barring Heinrich Klaasen underperformed in IPL 2023 and the worst part was that for most of the season, the Proteas keeper batted way too deep at No. 6. The need to fit Harry Brook into the team because of his hefty price tag despite his unconvincing performances also contributed to the batting order mess.
Daniel Vettori needs to figure out a clear first-choice playing XI and a batting order and stick with it for a minimum of 4-5 games before making any changes at all. SRH certainly have the talent in their batting lineup, they only need to figure out the right combination.
#1 The constant chopping and changing
The instability and constant chopping and changing of the playing XI didn't help SRH's cause as they languished at the bottom of the table for most of the season. Heinrich Klaasen, Mayank Markande, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar seemed the only reliable performers for the team, and post an injury to Washington Sundar, their selection dilemmas were even worse.
Their bowlers didn't get nearly enough games at a stretch, with Umran Malik's absence the biggest puzzle of IPL 2023. Despite being declared fit to play, the speedster was kept out of the playing XI and when asked about it, skipper Aiden Markram didn't have a clear answer. This only highlights the lack of power present with the captain and the confusion that largely presided over their season.
The handling of their immense overseas talents was also baffling. The likes of Fazalhaq Farooqi, Adil Rashid, and Glenn Phillips weren't given nearly enough opportunities despite the team struggling.
SRH were a team that most experts pegged to reach the playoffs with ease, and their underperformance can be attributed to this uncertainty and constant rotation that took place in their playing XI. That's something Daniel Vettori will need to work on.