Sunrisers Hyderabad have been a team that has relied on its bowling unit to churn out victories for them. In fact their bowling was the very reason that they finished at the top of the points table in the league stages.
But what might be a concern for SRH coming into the Qualifier 2 against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday is their losing spree in the tournament. Despite their best efforts, the team from Hyderabad has lost four matches on the trot, while their opponents have won as many matches back to back.
In the recent few games their bowling mainstay Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn’t been at his best and that has affected team’s fortunes too. Usually a hit in T20s, Bhuvi has had a far from convincing tournament and has just picked 9 wickets from 10 matches, at an economy of 7.83. His strike rate has swelled to 25.4 as compared to 12.1 last year.
What is interesting to note is that this is his worst performance in the previous three editions. As compared to the last two seasons, the only thing going Kumar’s way this season is the sheer number of dots he has bowled. He has a dot ball% of 43.23% this season.
Kumar has the worst wickets/match ratio this season. He picks up 0.90 wickets a match this season, which is the lowest in the last 3 seasons.
A look at the wickets/match ratio for SRH bowlers this season (min 15 overs bowled):
His average and strike rate this season has also been the worst in the last 3 seasons. Bhuvi has a bowling average of 33.22 this season. This apparently is the worst bowling average among SRH bowlers this season who have bowled a minimum of 15 overs.
Lastly, he is 5th in the list of leading wicket takers for SRH this season: Siddarth Kaul – 19 wickets leads the way. Spin sensation Rashid Khan is second on the list has grabbed 18 wickets till now.
If they want to register a win against KKR, Bhuvneshwar's form will be the key.
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