“Don’t know why they made drastic changes after 5 consecutive wins” - Mohammad Kaif after SRH’s 4th straight loss in IPL 2022
Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has expressed surprise at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for making changes to their IPL team, which registered five consecutive wins in IPL 2022. According to Kaif, Hyderabad’s present team combination doesn’t look balanced. He specifically questioned the absence of left-arm pacer Marco Jansen from recent matches.
SRH began their IPL 2022 campaign with two losses but followed it up with five consecutive wins. However, since their winning streak ended, they have lost four matches in a row. On Sunday, they were thumped by 67 runs by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Reflecting on yet another loss for Hyderabad, Kaif told Sportskeeda that some tweaks in the playing XI seemed unnecessary and explained:
“The overall team combination of SRH has gone awry. Marco Jansen is not playing. They won those five games in a row. But then, I don’t know why they made so many drastic changes to their team after five consecutive wins. It’s a surprise they haven’t managed to fit Jansen into the playing XI.”
Hyderabad have made a few changes to their bowling department in the last couple of matches. Sean Abbott, Shreyas Gopal and Kartik Tyagi featured in the game against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
Tyagi was retained for Sunday’s match against RCB but both Abbott and Gopal were dropped and were replaced by Fazalhaq Farooqi and Jagadeesha Suchith respectively. Jansen did not feature in either match.
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“Kane Williamson can bat in the middle-order” - Mohammad Kaif on SRH skipper’s struggles as opener
With a long break ahead, we will go back to the drawing board to assess and chart our way forward.
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Apart from bowling, Hyderabad have struggled in the batting department as well. Skipper Kane Williamson, in particular, has been out of rhythm, failing to get the team off to a solid start. Asked if the New Zealand legend could bat in the middle order, Kaif nodded in agreement and said:
“Yes, Kane Williamson can bat in the middle-order. He has done well at No. 3-4 and has a good record in those positions. If you are not doing well as an opener, there is no harm in moving down the order. He definitely has that option to bat, maybe, at No. 3.”
Williamson has scored only 199 runs in 11 IPL 2022 matches at an average of 19.90 and a shockingly poor strike rate of 96.14.