Former Australia captain Aaron Finch criticised Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel for handing part-time spinner Nitish Rana his full quota of four overs instead of relying more on frontline spinners Kuldeep Yadav and himself.
A blistering unbeaten 135 off 68 balls from Abhishek Sharma and a four-wicket haul by Eshan Malinga helped Sunrisers Hyderabad strengthen their title hopes with a commanding 47-run win over Delhi Capitals while defending a massive total of 245.
One of DC’s biggest tactical errors, according to Finch, was persisting with Rana’s part-time spin for four overs, which cost 55 runs. In contrast, Axar and Kuldeep — the side’s main spin options — bowled only two overs each and conceded a combined 53 runs.
Speaking during ESPNCricinfo's TimeOut show, Finch said, "We have been sitting there scratching our heads, have not we? Your two Indian premier spin bowlers, Axar Patel, the skipper, and Kuldeep Yadav, they bowled four overs between them. A part-time offspinner in Nitish Rana has wheeled out four overs. To me, that makes no sense."
Finch said that Axar not trusting himself under pressure to defend against left-handers, despite being a two-time T20 World Cup winner, says a lot about his attitude.
"It is the responsibility of your captain, your senior player, your retained player, your best bowler, an Indian bowler, he is one of your core bowlers in the Indian cricket team. That is no small bit. He's a double World Cup winner. So the fact that he does not trust himself to execute under pressure and to defend himself against any left-handers. To me that says more about his attitude towards it than anything else," he added.
Coming to the match, DC won the toss and opted to field first. A 97-run opening stand between Abhishek and Travis Head (37 in 26 balls, with two fours and two sixes) started things for SRH. Abhishek batted the entire innings, ending with 135* in 68 balls, with 10 fours and 10 sixes, creating partnerships with skipper Ishan Kishan (25 in 13 balls, with two fours and a six) and Heinrich Klaasen (37* in 13 balls, with three fours and three sixes), taking SRH to 244/2 in 20 overs.
During the run-chase, after losing Pathum Nissanka early, KL Rahul (37 in 23 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Nitish Rana (57 in 30 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) put together a partnership of 86 runs. But after their dismissals, DC fell apart, with Eshan Malinga (4/32 in four overs), Sakib Hussain (1/29 in four overs) and Harsh Dubey (3/12 in two overs) reducing DC to 195/9.
SRH is in third place in the points table, with four wins and three losses, while DC is at fifth spot with three wins and three losses.
(With inputs from ANI)