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VVS Laxman: IPL 2016 and Sunrisers Hyderabad’s all-round pace attack

VVS Laxman writes, no matter what the format is, games of cricket are won by balanced teams having both quality batsmen and bowlers.

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Sunrisers' bowlers (from left): Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman, Moises Henriques and Barinder Sran © AFP
Sunrisers’ bowlers (from left): Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman, Moises Henriques and Barinder Sran © AFP

One of the things we at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were convinced about even before heading into the February auction ahead of IPL 2016 was the need to have quality bowlers. No matter what the format is, games of cricket are won by balanced teams having both quality batsmen and bowlers. The reality of that thinking became apparent to us after our first game of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore when we conceded more than 200 runs, but more on that later.

As we approached the auction, we were clear in our minds about what we were looking for — quality, full-time wicket-taking bowling options. These options would not necessarily guarantee us wickets, because in cricket, there is no guarantee of anything, but these bowlers would give us the best possible chance of picking up wickets, and we could not have asked for more.

Towards that end, we had identified a few bowlers that we felt would be essential for us to progress this season. After a healthy process, we acquired the services of Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman and Barinder Sran. Each of these three has established himself in our first-choice eleven, forming a potent combine alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Moises Henriques. With the injury to Karn Sharma, ours had briefly become a totally pace-orientated attack, with spinners playing second fiddle. And how beautifully our pacemen have responded!

We were also certain that we would not rely on part-time bowlers and that we would look for bowlers with a knack for getting wickets. You can be a very good bowler but just like a very good batsman must have a knack for scoring runs, a very good bowler knows how to take wickets. Bhuvi, Mustafizur, Ashish and Moises know that trick, and Barinder is gradually getting there, thriving in the environment of learning and self-development that exists within the Sunrisers set-up.

As this season has reiterated, the first 6 overs and the last 5 overs become crucial phases of a 20-over game, both from a batting and a bowling perspective. If you pick up wickets in the Powerplay overs, batting side automatically comes under pressure to manage its resources, which translates to the bowling side controlling the run rate and dictating play. At the other end of the spectrum, if the batting team gets off to a flyer, the bowlers are then thinking more defensive than wicket-taking, and especially for a bowling unit, it is extremely difficult to play catch-up.

I would not say we have been fortunate, I would just say that our bowlers have been good enough to pick up wickets in the Powerplay overs more often than not. Ashish and Bhuvi have been outstanding with the new ball, bowling to their strengths. I have been particularly delighted at how well Bhuvi has gone back to embracing his traditional strength, which is swinging the ball. I think he has bowled better in the last five weeks than in the preceding seven or eight months because if you compare his pitch map during the IPL to the period before that, you will find that he is pitching the ball fuller a lot more, and therefore able to make it do his bidding.

Sometimes, in the heat of the battle, you can forget your core strengths. Under pressure, you may stray from the processes that have brought you success. It is here that the role of the support staff becomes crucial. Alright, our primary objective is ought to be one where we provide an environment that is relaxed without undue tensions. But as a coach or mentor, our roles are also in making sure the morale is up, the players are aware of what their strengths are and what it is that has brought them success in the past, and significantly, empowering them to make the right choices because there is no greater spur than self-responsibility.

Be it Tom Moody, Muttiah Muralitharan or myself, that is what we have strived to do, because no matter how much you strategise, it is ultimately the players that have to do the hard work and execute the plans in the middle under pressure.

Davey Warner has been a wonderful leader. Not only has he led from the front with the bat, he has also allowed the bowlers to choose their own fields giving them that well deserved freedom. When a bowler comes up with his own plans and is allowed to operate within those plans, he feels responsible for every delivery. Sometimes, if a captain gives him a field and asks him to bowl to that field, no matter what, then you can feel a little bit disillusioned. That is where Davey has come out with flying colours. He has trusted his bowling group in their decision-making, and I am thrilled that he has not been let down by the bowlers.

One of the other things we have been blessed with is a strong leadership group within the squad. Davey is the eventual decision-maker, but there are experienced and wise heads in Yuvi, Ashish, Shikhar, Kane Williamson, Eoin Morgan and Moises Henriques. The captain has various decisions to make, so he needs the other senior players around him to help him out. Leadership comes naturally to all the names that I have mentioned here; they have taken the younger lot under their wings and there is a strong sense of bonding not just in the middle but off the field as well. That camaraderie has contributed to a happy group, which translates into performances on the field.

While our bowlers thrived on the bouncy tracks at our home ground in Uppal, I was chuffed at the manner in which they adapted to a slower pitch in Visakhapatnam. One of the challenges in cricket is to perform outside one’s comfort zone, and that was what the bowlers did in Vizag. Ashish, being the most experienced hand, is the leader of the bowling pack, but the overall quality there is extremely impressive. Mustafizur has been particularly eye-catching, and Davey has allowed him to bowl the way he wants to. That is extremely important — the mutual trust between the captain and the bowler.

What we have also stressed upon is to be aggressive in thinking and to maintain positivity at all times, even when bowling defensively. I know it sounds a bit paradoxical but what I mean by that is that if you are trying to bowl defensively at the death, for instance, you must think let me bowl a yorker to this set batsman because I have the best chance of getting him out with the yorker — either bowled or leg-before or caught in the deep. Then you have a sense of positivity because even in trying to check the runs, your primary focus is getting a wicket. But when you come in thinking “dot-ball, dot-ball” and your mindset and body language is negative, it is almost as if you are convinced that you are going to get hit. Chances are, invariably you will.

Our five fast bowlers have all been among the wickets and are functioning like a well-oiled machine. In a lot of ways, they have returned the faith in the bowlers in a tournament where batsmen like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and David Warner have towered with their brilliant batting exploits. Especially with the spinners not making the same impact as they have in previous seasons, it was essential for the faster bowlers to keep the relevance of bowling intact. I am proud that we at Sunrisers Hyderabad have played our part in that process.

(VVS Laxman, CricketCountry’s Chief Cricket Mentor, remains one of the finest and most elegant batsmen in history. He was part of the iconic Indian middle-order for over a decade and a half and played 134 Tests and 86 ODIs. He tweets at @vvslaxman281)

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