Shashank Singh, a bowler who might have been excluded from Sunrisers Hyderabad’s plans, delivered an impactful performance. Before being given the ball, he had bowled just 426 deliveries across 100 T20s, securing only one IPL wicket.
Captain’s Gamble Pays Off
Sunrisers Hyderabad had surged to 105 without loss in the powerplay. Arshdeep Singh was taken for 33 in two overs and Vyshak Vijaykumar for 24. Even Marco Jansen was hit for 16.
Shreyas Iyer gave Shashank the ball in an attempt to stop the Travishek surge. Shashank had requested the opportunity to bowl, believing a change of pace could disrupt the batters who were, in Iyer’s words, “going bonkers”.
Iyer later revealed that Shashank had approached him requesting the ball. Ricky Ponting even checked in with Iyer during the time-out, questioning his thought process.
Iyer explained, “I said I’m going to go with Shashank because I need someone who bowls at around 120kph. I need to take the pace off against these two batsmen,” Iyer said. “He lived up to his expectations… he said he’d take a wicket, and he did that. Kudos to him and his thought process.”
The Strategy Behind the Spell
Shashank’s approach involved accepting his limitations and formulating a plan around them. He positioned two sweepers on the off side, aiming to keep the ball away from the left-handers’ hitting zone.
Travis Head was drawn into a low-percentage scoop in Shashank’s first over, which went for just six. Shashank refrained from experimenting with variations, sticking to the plan that had initially proven effective.
He kept angling the ball across the left-handers, and Head miscued a shot to long-on. Two balls later, Abhishek holed out to deep cover, attempting to maintain the scoring momentum.
Shashank’s celebration showed what the moment meant.
- Shashank Singh asked his captain for the ball.
- He bowled at around 120kph.
- He took two wickets.
Two years ago, h