IPL Review: Irrational Choices Cost SRH

It has been widely said that having the best batsman or the best bowler in the side isn't alone going to help a team win tournaments and no one exemplifies this theory more than Sunrisers Hyderbad. Boasting one of the stronger sides on paper, they had the firepower required to go all the way but were incapable of repeating last year's success and crashed out in the league phase of IPL 7.

Their campaign was marred by a few bizarre decisions taken by the team management, which eventually led to their demise. They swapped Shikhar Dhawan with Darren Sammy as the captain at the fag end of the tournament, sent David Warner - one of the most destructive openers of the current era - down the order for most of the season and experimented with the batting order repeatedly. All these factors combined with over-dependence on reputed names did them in.

Provided they had delivered the goods, SRH could have finished a lot better than what they did - sixth in the points table - if not lift the trophy.

IPL 7 record: Played 14, Won 6, Lost 8, Points 12

Sunrisers didn't quite start their IPL 7 crusade in a manner they would have liked. A lukewarm start in the UAE, where they lost three of their first five matches, denied them the early momentum they would have hoped for. The wins came against a muddled Delhi Daredevils and a then-woeful Mumbai Indians. The India leg too didn't witness much of a difference and they could manage only four wins out of nine.

However, a late surge saw them beat Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings in back-to-back games but it came a little too late as the equation got stiffer. In their last league match, they need to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by a massive margin, which in the end proved too much.

High point

By the time it arrived, matters were already out of hand. After an average UAE leg, the last few matches in India saw Sunrisers live up to their batting-heavy reputation. Prior to their second match against Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad, SRH's previous best was 184/1 against DD - one of the weaker sides in the tournament. But against KXIP they notched up 205/5 - their highest total in the IPL - but unfortunately ended up second-best. With their backs to the wall, SRH pulled off back-to-back wins against RCB and CSK to give themselves a chance for a play-off spot, be it a slight one.

Low point

When they were bundled out for their lowest total this season - 121 against KXIP. Chasing 194 was always going to be a tough ask but no one expected their batting to do this badly. Only Lokesh Rahul spent time at the crease and top-scored with 27. As many as five batsman fell between 10-20. L Balaji took 4/13 and got the all-important wickets of Aaron Finch (19), Warner (8) and Sammy (15).

Captaincy verdict

The appointment of Dhawan as captain was perhaps not a wise decision considering the kind of form he was in prior to the tournament. His initial few scores were 38, 1, 33, 7 and 6 for an average of 17. It took Dhawan 12 innings to register his first half-century of the season and it came when Sammy was given charge of the team. Dhawan ended IPL 7 with 377 runs in 14 matches at an average of 29. His form was a major setback and it reflected in his captaincy as well. When Glenn Maxwell and David Miller went hammer and tongs, Dhawan looked listless as a leader and his shoulders dropped. The body language didn't indicate the best of signs either. Perhaps Sammy should have been the first choice for the post considering his experience leading West Indies.

Most valuable player

Not too many might have expected Bhuvneshwar Kumar to put up a show like he did: 20 wickets from 14 games at an economy of 6.65. His bowling had rhythm and he got the ball to swing both ways. He stood out in the Powerplays - his dot balls accounting to almost 60 percent - and was exceptional in the death overs.

Also, not many SRH batsmen delivered but the David Warner batted, he clearly seemed to be in the wrong team at the wrong time. Despite being shuffled in the line-up, the Australian opener managed to hit a purple patch with 528 runs from 14 matches at an average of 48. He scored six half-centuries, the most by any batsman this season and his 90 against CSK was a pioneer innings.

Major disappointment

Not one but two. While IPL's second-highest wicket-taker Amit Mishra was far from his best, Dale Steyn leaked runs frequently. SRH played Mishra in 10 games, in which he scalped seven wickets at an average of 48.57. He went wicketless in four consecutive games and his economy-rate has been 9.06 - an alarming stat considering Mishra has never gone above 8.02 in the last six editions.

On the other hand, with 11 wickets from 14 games, Steyn has gone at an economy of 7.69. Thrice was he taken for above 20 runs in an over - 24 by AB de Villiers, 23 by MS Dhoni and 26 by Yusuf Pathan, all of which Sunrisers lost. Another telling stat being he has conceded 46 boundaries this season - the most by any bowler. Clearly, not something people want to associate with the world's No. 1 ranked bowler.

Verdict

An overall disappointment. SRH were expected to pose some real threat to their oppositions in the beginning of the tournament but instead fell flat in their approach. The big guns failed to step up to the occasion as no one except Warner has performed consistently. The No. 1 ranked Twenty20 batsman, Finch, managed only 309 runs from 13 innings with two half-centuries. Also, the inability to strike a correct team composition in the initial stages was a big letdown and that is what stopped them from setting the right tone.

Must do for 2015

First and foremost, the skipper needs to lead from the front and make sure his side sticks to the basics. Then, make sure his best batsmen open the innings and face the maximum number of balls. Third, persist with the opening pair of Warner and Finch with Dhawan at No.3 and not tinker with it. SRH would also expect more of the domestic crop to leave an impact and not rely too much on reputed foreign names. This might sound easier than done but once executed, they might do what their successors Deccan Chargers did in 2009.