Former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Hanuma Vihari had suggested two changes in the playing XI. While Pat Cummins did not make the exact changes, the two players he asked to be included in the side contributed to the team’s record-breaking win against Mumbai Indians (MI) at home.
The first change he suggested was bringing in Travis Head to replace Marco Jansen. Cummins made the change after Jansen’s expensive numbers against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens. The other chance he suggested was to replace Rahul Tripathi with Jaydev Unadkat. While Unadkat was included in the squad, it was in T Natarajan’s place who missed the match due to a niggle.
Head on his SRH debut and return to IPL after a long absence made MI pay for the dropped catch early on. Head got to his half-century from just 18 balls, the fastest for SRH by an overseas batter. He scored 62 runs from just 24 balls including nine fours and three sixes.
On the other hand, Unadkat was expensive but got the wickets of Naman Dhir and skipper Hardik Pandya. The left-arm pacer picked up a couple of wickets and conceded 47 runs from four overs.
Head pleased to get underway
“Feeling good, the batting team has done an exceptional job in the last two games, feels good to contribute. It was very enjoyable tonight. We were aggressive in the first game as well, that's one thing we want to do at the top. I am pleased I could target both the off-side and leg-side. Earlier I would just target the leg side. It's a great blueprint for us moving forward,” Head told the broadcasters after the 31-run win over MI.
Head was roped in by SRH for Rs 6.8 crore in the mini-auction after a bidding war with Chennai Super Kings (CSK). During his maiden IPL stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), he scored just one half-century in two seasons.
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