Veteran Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara has called out Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins for his tactical decisions following their defeat to Delhi Capitals (DC) on Sunday afternoon.Â
The match, which saw SRH opting to bat first in Visakhapatnam, ended in a seven-wicket loss, prompting Pujara to criticise the team’s aggressive batting approach and Cummins’ captaincy choices, especially the decision at the toss.
Pujara, speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show, expressed his astonishment at SRH’s decision to bat first in a day game. He argued that the conditions favoured bowling first and that could have allowed SRH to exploit the pitch early on. Instead, Cummins banked on his team’s explosive batting line-up, a decision that backfired as SRH were bundled out at 163 on a good batting track.
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"Firstly I was really surprised they chose to bat first, when you’re playing an afternoon game, you know that the pitch will be slightly on the slow side, that’s when you normally prefer to bowl and that’s an ideal time to bowl, not an ideal time to bat. I thought they should have bowled first. But talking about their batting, I think they go too hard and they were not smart enough today," Pujara said as quoted to ESPNcricinfo.
SRH had set the IPL alight in their opening game against Rajasthan Royals, posting a mammoth 286/6. However, their ultra-aggressive batting philosophy faltered in subsequent matches, including against DC. Pujara pointed out that the team’s relentless attacking style lacked a Plan B.
"What is your success then, if you are just winning two out of 10, then it doesn't make sense. You need to win more number of games. You need to show that consistency again and again. Last season we saw that they played brilliantly throughout the league phase but what if one game goes wrong for you in the knockouts, then you're not able you are not able to have a plan," Pujara added.
Pat Cummins backs his team amid criticism
Skipper Cummins, however, remained unfazed by the consecutive losses. Speaking at the post-match presentation, he dismissed concerns, saying that the the side only need to make a few tweaks for results to go in their favour.
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"It’s too early to worry about being two down, hopefully, we’ll get back going forward. As I said, we need to have a look at a few of our options. Maybe we just need to do one or two things differently, and the results would change," Cummins said as quoted at the post-match presentation.
The Hyderabad-based franchise is currently sitting at the eighth position on the points table. They have won one out of three matches. SRH will next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 3 at the Eden Gardens.
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