Sunrisers Hyderabad's torrid time in the ongoing edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) continued as they endured a seven-wicket loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at home on Saturday. The outcome also saw the franchise endure a major blow in the race for play-offs as they find themselves ninth on the table with eight points from 11 encounters.
If we look at the proceedings Sunrisers Hyderabad put a good show but their misfortunes compounded after an experiment by Aiden Markram failed miserably. With 69 required in the final five overs, Markram handed the ball to part-time spinner Abhishek Sharma, who blew 31 runs in six balls, as the equation dropped to 38 in 24 balls.
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Lucknow eventually chased down the 183-run target with four balls to spare and the decisive over by Abhishek drew immense criticism on Markram's leadership abilities.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who is part of IPL commentary panel, also was not very impressed with the move. In fact following the contest, Pathan made another strong point concerning Umran Malik, which has left the ex-cricketer “baffled.”
{{/usCountry}}Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who is part of IPL commentary panel, also was not very impressed with the move. In fact following the contest, Pathan made another strong point concerning Umran Malik, which has left the ex-cricketer “baffled.”
{{/usCountry}}“League’s fastest bowler sitting out baffles me. Umran Malik wasn’t handled well by his team,” he tweeted.
Irfan did make a point as Umran was one of the two domestic talents, who was retained by the franchise for ₹4 crore ahead of the IPL 2021 mega auction.
However, the franchise have under utilised the Jammu and Kashmir speedster in the season, mainly due to his poor economy.
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Umran has made seven appearances in the season and has leaked 176 runs in the 17 overs he has bowled at an economy of 10.35. He has managed five scalps, with 2/32 being his best figures in the season.
Meanwhile, as far as SRH's hopes for play-offs are concerned, another season of non-performance with a below-par show is knocking at their door.