Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Mohammad Kaif has slammed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team management for protecting Travis Head against Mitchell Starc. Head has struggled against Starc with the new ball and was dismissed for a duck in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Qualifier 1. In the final, he did not take the strike against Starc. His opening partner Abhishek Sharma faced the Australian left-arm pacer in the first over and got bowled on the fifth delivery.
Kaif slammed SRH team management for the ‘defensive tactic’ and questioned the Australian batter for trying to avoid the challenge.
“For final Abhishek taking first strike, and not Head, was a defensive tactic. Starc has got Head out in the past but aren't the Aussies known to take up challenges head on? Wrong move SRH,” Kaif wrote on X.
Before the IPL 2024 final, Head had admitted that he has struggled against Starc.
“We have had our battles over the years and he's won a fair few of them, hopefully knock the shine off him tonight and then we get off to a good start,” he told the broadcasters.
After Abhishek got bowled for a single-digit score, Head could not do well either. He was dismissed off the first ball bowled by Vaibhav Arora. The Australian southpaw edged one to the wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
SRH’s destructive opening pair failed for the third time in IPL 2024 playoffs. Head departed for a duck agianst Starc. In the Qualifier 2, he contributed with a 34-run knock. Meanwhile, Abhishek departed for a single-digit score against KKR and 12 runs against RR in Qualifier 2.
SRH suffer batting collapse
Earlier, Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first. With the new ball, Starc got the wicket of Rahul Tripathi in the fifth over. SRH managed to post 40/3 in powerplay overs. This was their second-lowest powerplay score.
The wickets kept falling and Harshit Rana got the wicket of Nitish Reddy in the seventh over. Aiden Markram failed to make a mark as well. He departed for a 23-ball 20. SRH lost half their side for 62 in the 11th over.
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