Sunrisers Hyderabad could hardly spare much thought for Shashank Singh before this game—but when the pressure mounted, the franchise found exactly the kind of bowler it needed. With the pitch offering little help and the ball coming off the bat with ease, his low-pace approach and disciplined angles became the difference-maker at a critical moment.
The setup: why Shashank was an unlikely selection
Shashank Singh had not been a regular force in T20 cricket, at least not in terms of volume. Across more than a decade in the format, he had delivered 426 balls in 100 matches—roughly four overs per game on average. That lengthy sample produced just 30 wickets overall, and in IPL cricket specifically, he had claimed only one wicket.
Everything he had witnessed up to that point had felt like a blur of batting dominance. SRH had raced to 107 without losing a wicket during the powerplay. Arshdeep Singh conceded 33 runs in two overs, Vyshak Vijaykumar went for 24, and even Marco Jansen—known for his height and sharp bounce—was struck for 16.
So the question was simple: what could a medium-pace operator, moving at barely around 120 kmph, possibly do on a track that offered no noticeable seam and no swing? It was hard to see a path against the powerplay pioneers of the Impact Player era.
Captain’s gamble turns into a wicket spree
With Abhishek Sharma hammering an 18-ball half-century and Travis Head operating in support mode while striking at 200, SRH’s batting momentum looked unstoppable. Yet this was precisely the moment Shashank had been waiting for.
Shreyas Iyer later explained that the bowling change was not purely a captain’s call made in isolation. Shashank walked up, asked for the ball, and Iyer—seeing batters “going bonkers”—decided that a slower tempo might disrupt their rhythm. It remained a gamble, though. Even coach Ricky Ponting checked in during the timeout with Iyer: “What’s your thought?”
Iyer clarified his reasoning afterward. He said he wanted Shashank because the bowling pace was around 120 kmph, with the intention of taking the speed off the ball for those two batters. “He lived up to his expectations… he said he’d take a wicket, and he did that. Kudos to him and his thought process,” Iyer added.
How Shashank built the plan and executed it
Rather than trying to mask his limitations, Shashank embraced them and built a strategy around what he could control. He placed two sweepers on the off side, using field placement to keep the ball away from the left-handers’ most dangerous hitting areas. The idea was straightforward: if his deliveries denied their strongest scoring zones, the batters would have to take riskier options elsewhere.
Head sensed the approach almost immediately. In Shashank’s opening over, he dragged Head into a low-percentage scoop, and the attempt produced only six runs.
After a steady start, Shashank did not drift into experimentation. He stuck to the same lane, continuing to angle the ball across the left-handers and refusing to bowl into their scoring arc. In his second over, he began with a cutter, and Head was pulled into the trap again. When Head tried to swat it down the ground, the timing was off—his bottom hand came off the bat during the contact—and the ball carried tamely to long-on.
Two deliveries later, the second breakthrough arrived. Abhishek Sharma was caught out at deep cover while trying to maintain the momentum. The shot was the kind of delivery that could be hit on another day, but this time persistence paid off: Shashank’s repeated angles had created the doubt, and Abhishek finally paid for it. His celebration captured the relief and satisfaction of a plan landing exactly as intended.
At that stage, it felt like déjà vu. Two years earlier, Shashank had dismissed Abhishek for his first IPL wicket in a similarly dramatic fashion—an explosive innings ended when Abhishek mistimed a hit to cover.
Post-match reflections and the “nets-only” preparation
After the game, Shashank described how he mentally rehearsed these moments. “Whenever I bowl in the nets, I plan for these situations only. We have a good bowling attack, so I know I’ll only bowl when something like this happens. I’ve planned my lines and lengths much before the IPL, so whenever I bowl, I’ll bowl that way. And Abhishek is a world-class batsman… getting him out twice feels good,” he said.
While his IPL chances might have been infrequent, the methods were not unfamiliar. Shashank has built that skill set through experience on slow, black-soil surfaces such as those in Bhopal and Bhilai—where three T20 matches are sometimes played in a single day. In those conditions, cutters, changes of pace, and forcing batters to generate their own power on tiring, variable surfaces become especially valuable.
Why the cutter became the default choice
That context made it unsurprising that the cutter stayed his go-to weapon on Saturday. Shashank admitted he enjoys the pressure moments. “I love my bowling, to be honest. I love these kinds of situations when the chips are down, because I can use my smartness. I know I have limitations, and I don’t run away from that. But with some smartness, I can do something for the team,” he said.
Impact in the innings: from restricting chances to finishing the job
By the 11th over, Shashank had already bowled three overs, and he was not immediately pulled out for the back end. At that point, he had given the PBKS bowlers a workable blueprint for how to slow SRH down and cut off the easier scoring. That guidance played a major role in limiting SRH to 219, even when 250 had appeared within reach earlier in the contest.
And when the chase demanded something extra, it mattered even more that the finishing touch came from Shashank himself. The final flourish was fitting: he hit the winning runs long after he had made his earlier mark with the ball.
