Sunrisers Hyderabad could hardly spare much thought for Shashank Singh before this game\u2014but 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2014roughly 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2014known for his height and sharp bounce\u2014was struck for 16.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
With Abhishek Sharma hammering an 18-ball half-century and Travis Head operating in support mode while striking at 200, SRH\u2019s batting momentum looked unstoppable. Yet this was precisely the moment Shashank had been waiting for.<\/p>\n
Shreyas Iyer later explained that the bowling change was not purely a captain\u2019s call made in isolation. Shashank walked up, asked for the ball, and Iyer\u2014seeing batters \u201cgoing bonkers\u201d\u2014decided that a slower tempo might disrupt their rhythm. It remained a gamble, though. Even coach Ricky Ponting checked in during the timeout with Iyer: \u201cWhat\u2019s your thought?\u201d<\/p>\n
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. \u201cHe lived up to his expectations\u2026 he said he\u2019d take a wicket, and he did that. Kudos to him and his thought process,\u201d Iyer added.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Head sensed the approach almost immediately. In Shashank\u2019s opening over, he dragged Head into a low-percentage scoop, and the attempt produced only six runs.<\/p>\n
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\u2014his bottom hand came off the bat during the contact\u2014and the ball carried tamely to long-on.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
At that stage, it felt like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. Two years earlier, Shashank had dismissed Abhishek for his first IPL wicket in a similarly dramatic fashion\u2014an explosive innings ended when Abhishek mistimed a hit to cover.<\/p>\n
After the game, Shashank described how he mentally rehearsed these moments. \u201cWhenever I bowl in the nets, I plan for these situations only. We have a good bowling attack, so I know I\u2019ll only bowl when something like this happens. I\u2019ve planned my lines and lengths much before the IPL, so whenever I bowl, I\u2019ll bowl that way. And Abhishek is a world-class batsman\u2026 getting him out twice feels good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\u2014where 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.<\/p>\n
That context made it unsurprising that the cutter stayed his go-to weapon on Saturday. Shashank admitted he enjoys the pressure moments. \u201cI 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\u2019t run away from that. But with some smartness, I can do something for the team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunrisers Hyderabad could hardly spare much thought for Shashank Singh before this game\u2014but when the pressure mounted, the franchise found exactly the kind of bowler…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Sunrisers vs IPL: Shashank Singh\u2019s low-pace spell impact","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Sunrisers Hyderabad\u2019s Shashank Singh turns pressure into wickets with a crafty low-pace spell\u2014here\u2019s how his disciplined angles changed the IPL game.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n