IPL 2020: 3 concerns for the Sunrisers Hyderabad before Qualifier 2
The Sunrisers Hyderabad will square off against the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2020. The Orange Army had won the IPL title in 2016, while they finished runners-up in the 2018 season.
SRH had made it to the playoffs last year as well, but had their campaign ended by the Capitals in the Eliminator match.
The David Warner-led outfit will be keen to avenge that loss when they take the field against Shreyas Iyer's men in Abu Dhabi. SRH will be quite optimistic heading into this fixture as they have registered two wins over DC in the league stage of IPL 2020.
While the Hyderabad-based franchise has registered convincing wins in their last few IPL 2020 matches, here are the three things that might concern them before Qualifier 2.
3. Wriddhiman Saha's injury
Wriddhiman Saha has played a significant role in Sunrisers Hyderabad's resurgence this year. The right-handed batsman destroyed the Delhi Capitals and the Mumbai Indians with his phenomenal batting performances at the top of the order.
Unfortunately, he had to sit out of the IPL 2020 Eliminator because of an injury. Shreevats Goswami replaced him in the playing XI, but lost his wicket for a duck.
With Saha unlikely to play against the Capitals in Qualifier 2 tonight, it will be interesting to see how Goswami performs in his second IPL 2020 match.
2. Priyam Garg's inconsistency in IPL 2020
India U-19 captain Priyam Garg has received solid backing from the Sunrisers Hyderabad team management. The right-handed batsman had played a fantastic knock of 51 runs against the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2020 league stage.
However, apart from that one innings, Garg has not done anything noteworthy in his first IPL season. The youngster has scored 116 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 117.17.
In the Eliminator match against RCB, Garg came out to bat in a high-pressure situation but failed to deliver, scoring just 7 runs off 14 balls. However, the star duo of Kane Williamson and Jason Holder helped SRH over the line eventually.
The 19-year-old will have to take some responsibility and perform better in tonight's crucial encounter.
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1. Dot ball percentage
SRH's bowling attack has troubled the competition's best batting units in their last few outings, while their batting has also gotten better as the tournament has progressed.
However, in SRH's previous IPL 2020 match, RCB pushed the Orange Army to the limit in their chase of the 132 run target. The Sunrisers batsmen played 51 dot deliveries in the innings, and that is a considerable number.
With the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Ravichandran Ashwin present in the Delhi Capitals bowling lineup, the Hyderabad batsmen will have to focus on strike rotation as it will be challenging to score boundaries regularly off them.
Excellent strike rotation in the first phase of the innings will also help the finishers lead the team to a strong total with their big hits.