Following Simarjeet Singh’s impressive debut as a Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer, taking two wickets in the opening over, fast bowling coach James Franklin believed that he and the squad would need to figure out how they could complement one another.
After two brief but productive periods with CSK in 2022 and 2024—four wickets in six games and five wickets in four games, respectively—the Delhi fast was acquired in the November 2024 mega auction for INR 1.50 crore. He completed last year with 18 wickets in 10 appearances at the Delhi T20, another competition run by a state association where IPL scouts usually set up shop before an auction.
He was included in the starting lineup for SRH’s season opener on a flat pitch at home, when the Rajasthan Royals had to chase an incredible 287, supporting their March 23 auction choice. Although he gave up 46 runs in three overs, SRH and James Franklin should have been pleased with the two wickets in the wickets column and the timing of the breakthroughs.
In the opening over, the 6’1″ pacer troubled the RR top-order with his hit-the-deck skills. At mid-on, he bounced out Riyan Parag with a ball at 145 kmph that the RR skipper could only pull to Pat Cummins after getting Yashasvi Jaiswal to locate the point fielder with a cut shot.
“You know, he’s got some natural pace, he can move the ball through the air and if you’re putting those two things together that obviously becomes quite an attractive skill set for a fast bowler to have and he’s also got a few tricks up his sleeve with slower ball variations,” James Franklin said regarding Simarjeet. Therefore, I suppose it’s him learning to comprehend his place in our group. Since it’s his first year with us, we’re obviously figuring out how to best utilise him.
“He gave us two huge wickets early in the first over of the game a few days ago, which was an incredible start. It was also crucial for us as a bowling group to set the pace in that powerplay.
James Franklin continued, “So, yeah, hopefully it’s the beginning of something nice for him and for us.”
Simarjeet seems like a good fit for SRH’s revamped bowling lineup. The same kind of shoes weren’t filled in terms of bowling phases, even if SRH replaced two mainstays, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan, with Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel.
Last season, Cummins received 56 PowerPlay overs between Bhuvneshwar and Natarajan, despite the fact that both bowled well towards the end. Harshal has traditionally excelled in the middle and at the backend, therefore SRH will require more up top ball play than Mohammed Shami, who was mostly a PowerPlay operator in the 2023 Indian Premier League. Jaydev Unadkat, another Indian pacer in the SRH team who provides the extra left-armer’s perspective, was also mostly used through the middle. SRH’s combination may require them to have another bowler who can contribute at the top, even though Pat Cummins has been an all-phase bowler. They could visit Wiaan Mulder in South Africa, but it would require adjusting the overseas composition.
While Simarjeet only bowled one over in the PowerPlay previous season, he bowled more for CSK in the 2022 Indian Premier League, even getting bowled out in a row by MS Dhoni against the Mumbai Indians, with three of the overs falling in the first six.
“As a captain, Pat benefits greatly from having someone like Simarjit take the new ball. Once more, it may not always be that way because we definitely consider our lineup and bowling dynamics from game to game. However, Franklin believed that it worked flawlessly for Pat in that first game.
Simarjeet’s status as a regular member of SRH’s PowerPlay is still up in the air, but he will have a compelling argument if he consistently scores at the beginning of his opportunities.
“When I turned up to training camp a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t really seen too much of him, seen a bit of footage, but watching him live in the first session that I was here training was awesome to watch,” Franklin stated.
As the season goes on, Franklin, who joined SRH this season as their fast bowling coach, hopes to quickly establish a working relationship with the young Indian.
“In terms of our conversations, Simarjit and I are simply learning to comprehend one another. Since I only want to see how he plays, what fields he like to set, and how he bowls in various game scenarios, I’m definitely giving him some leeway right now.
“And because these batting groups that we’re facing are so strong and dynamic, I’m hoping that during the IPL we’ll chat a lot, converse a lot, and bounce around a few ideas on how to obviously improve and get better. In order to counter that, we must be creative and think outside the box about how to manipulate fields, what kinds of balls to use at certain stages, and, of course, how best that suits Simarjit and his preferred bowling technique,” Franklin stated.
India
