Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) concluded their dreadful run in the Indian Premier League 2023 with a loss to Mumbai Indians (MI) in game number 69. Despite having nothing to play for in their final league match, SRH fans expected the team to perform with more determination. After posting a respectable score of 200/5 in the first innings, the Aiden Markram-led team’s bowling lacked penetration, allowing MI to chase down the target in 18 overs with 8 wickets remaining. Having lost the draw, SRH was required to bat first.
The team captained by Markram reinstated Umran Malik, who had been out of form in his previous seven matches played this season. Similar to the previous instance, the speedster conceded 41 runs in three overs this time around. Former India opener Virender Sehwag, commenting on his performance, criticized Malik for his constant variations in line and length and noted that with the legendary Dale Steyn as the bowling instructor, these errors should have been minimized until now.
“Had he been a South African fast bowler, I could have comprehended why he wouldn’t bowl too full. However, Umran Malik’s dilemma is that he is constantly shifting his length. He lacks the necessary experience. He may have worked extensively with Dale Steyn, but he lacks a true understanding of his height.
“Despite working with Steyn for so long and learning from him, he’s repeating the same errors he made last season,” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
The former India batsman also felt that SRH’s bowling was out of sorts and noted that the 2016 champions only had one option to defend 200 against Mumbai in their last league match: take wickets. But the SRH bowlers faltered miserably, failing to even contain the runs.
The Jammu and Kashmir-born fast bowler had a disappointing IPL 2023, finishing with only five wickets in eight matches.
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