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'I don't think SRH can…': Harbhajan Singh makes bold prediction about Sunrisers Hyderabad's batting potential
Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are still searching for their first win, will now lock horns against Punjab Kings on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) wait for their first win in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) extended after they were humbled by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who defeated the former by five wickets in Lucknow on Friday. The decision to bat first at an away venue completely backfired for SRH, who were blown away by LSG spinners, in particular Krunal Pandya.
Pandya scalped three wickets in his four overs and conceded just 18 runs. Out of the three, two came in consecutive deliveries, when SRH opener Anmolpreet Singh was trapped LBW for 31 off 26 balls. Krunal then cleaned up SRH skipper Aiden Markram in the following ball, a point also highlighted by Brian Lara suggesting it as the turning point of the match.
Ravi Bishnoi and veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra also made significant contributions as SRH could only accumulate 121/8 in 20 overs. Lucknow chased down the total rather comfortably and wrapped the contest with four overs to spare.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh while analysing the match on his YouTube channel “Harbhajan Turbanator Singh” made a bold claim regarding SRH's batting potential. The former cricketer believes the unit doesn't have the firepower to put up even 170 on the board.
"I don't think SRH has a batting unit that can put up a score of 170-190. If Markram doesn't score, the task becomes more difficult. Tripathi is a skilful player and there is no doubt about it but he hasn't done anything significant with the bat so far this season. Maybe he might score in the season further." said Harbhajan.
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Harbhajan also lauded KL Rahul's captaincy but also labelled the match as “boring” at the same time.
"It was a great captaincy by Rahul. There wasn't any need to play any big shots in the chase. He played an innings of 35 runs and Krunal played one of 34 runs. It was an easy 2 points for Lucknow. The match was very boring and there was no fun, there wasn't enough score, the wicket was very slow and forced SRH to surrender while batting," he said.
SRH will now lock horns against Punjab Kings on Sunday, while Lucknow take on Royal Challengers Bangalore the next day.
