CHENNAI: Hyderabad are purring with confidence. With two wins out of two matches in this season’s Ranji Trophy so far, they sit on top of Elite Group B with 13 points. But a tough test awaits them when they take on Punjab on Monday on their home turf. The hosts will be without Mohammed Siraj, who is set to join the Indian team for the ODIs in New Zealand. CV Milind will lead the side in his absence.
While Hyderabad’s spin unit, led by Tanay Thyagarajan, has excelled in both wins against Tripura and Andhra, the batting unit is slowly coming together. Himateja K’s match-winning 123 against Andhra came as a boost. With openers Abhirath Reddy and Tanmay Agarwal negating the opening attack well so far, Himateja provides solidity in the middle-order.
But the tie against Punjab, who defeated Chhattisgarh by seven wickets last week, will not be an easy one. Playing on what is expected to be a turning track at the Gymkhana venue in Secunderabad, Himateja believed it will be difficult to negate spinners. “When they (spinners) are bowling at a good pace, it is difficult to find scoring options. You have to figure out a way to dominate them by using your foot or either sweeping or lofting it out of the ground,” he told this daily on Sunday.
He believed that batters should bat to their strengths and not delay things. “The best judge of the pitch is the batter who is in the middle. Whoever bats, just needs to do what suits them best and not delay things in fear of wickets. Once you are set, anything can happen on the wicket. It is a wicket where you are never set. You just have to trust your instincts,” he said.
In the lead up to the domestic red-ball season, Himateja had a TG20 (Telangana 20, the state's T20 league) campaign to remember. Representing Anvita Khammam Aces, Himateja racked up 461 runs in eight innings averaging 92.20. There, he worked under former Sri Lankan batting great Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was the mentor and chief advisor of the franchise.
"Dilshan sir had told me one thing: once you play the first 30 balls, there's no way you're going to get out, unless you do something stupid. That was a very valid point, and I noticed that. He is also very keen about trying to dominate the bowlers and not let them get on to you. My batting style is also a little bit closer to that and his advice worked out,” he added.
He also credited current Hyderabad mentor and all-time leading run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy, Wasim Jaffer, for his guidance. “He told me to stick to whatever instincts and follow that. He told me to focus on where I can get runs rather than thinking about the wicket, and said I can find the solution. His advice worked in the Andhra game. I tried to find runs regardless of the situation. That was a calculated risk in that match and I was able to dominate the bowlers,” he added.
While Himateja has momentum on his side, it won’t be easy to score runs against an equally competent Punjab side. Can the southpaw build something from his ton in Andhra? Only time will tell.
