It was just the fourth over in the second innings of the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knightriders. Praveen Kumar, who normally bowls off-cutters and good length deliveries at this stage, was trying the yorkers. Gautam Gambhir, who usually looks to rotate the strike at this stage, was swinging his bat all over. The latter got out trying to hoick Praveen’s full toss, the ball taking an inside edge before hitting the stumps.
A steady drizzle at the end of the first innings restricted the second innings to just 12 overs. And as with most rain breaks in limited overs cricket, Duckworth-Lewis made things more complicated: Sunrisers had posted a formidable 176/4 in 20 overs, but Knight Riders had to chase 118 in 12. Both teams looked unsure of their approach in the second innings. Rash shots were played. Catches were put down. Desperately attempted yorkers became full tosses.
Amidst all the rush, Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed to look unruffled as usual. With 37 runs needed to be scored off 18 balls and Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey at the crease, Bhuvneshwar was called to bowl the tenth over. He just gave away five runs. Later, he came back to bowl the final over in which he gave away eight.
While most bowlers try fancy things in Twenty20 cricket, Bhuvneshwar is an astute bowler who bowls according to the situation. Warner introduces him at the beginning of the innings and then bowls towards the end. At the start of the innings, Bhuvneshwar bowls the good length deliveries, trying to extract the most from swing-friendly conditions. During the death overs, instead of varying his line and length, he banks on the tried and tested method to stifle the batsmen in limited overs cricket: yorkers.
Master of the yorker
After the advent of the dilscoop, the helicopter shot, and the reverse-sweep, the yorker is no more a foolproof delivery to curb the flow of runs. But there are slight variations in yorkers, which, if used intelligently and accurately, can make life difficult for a batsman looking to score some quick runs towards the end.
The first of these is the conventional one of attacking the stumps. If it’s bowled accurately, the batsman finds it extremely hard to score off this delivery unless he commits himself to a scoop.
Another way is to bowl the yorker wide outside the off-stump. With appropriate field placements on the off side, a batsman could get caught in the deep, reaching out for the delivery, or he might edge it to the wicket-keeper.
The third type of yorker follows the batsman when he is trying to create room and smash the ball towards the long off boundary. This might not result in a wicket, but it makes the batsman lose his balance and completely cramp him.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar can bowl all the three types of yorkers with great precision. He lacks pace but he more than compensates for that with his intelligence and accuracy. He takes into account the batsman on strike, the game situation, and the conditions. On the rare instances he gets it wrong, he doesn’t get flustered like most fast bowlers in T20.
Modest but deadly
There is an unassuming charm about the way Bhuvneshwar Kumar carries himself. He doesn’t have the pace and ferocity of Dale Steyn or Trent Boult. He has the temperament that his fellow Kumar (Praveen) in the team lacks sometimes. You rarely see him indulging in wild celebrations after taking a wicket. The focus, it seems, is more on the process than the result.
Another strength of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s is that he acknowledges his weaknesses. For instance, when he was asked about increasing his speed, he said that he would never compromise on his swing for speed. “If anybody tells me to bowl at 140 kmph, I would not love to do so because when you bowl at that pace, there are big chances of the ball not swinging enough,” he was quoted as saying. He is comfortable bowling at 130-135 kmph and looks to create his chances by bowling an accurate line.
In a team that has the world’s premier fast-bowler, Dale Steyn, Kumar was Sunrisers’ highest wicket-taker in the last IPL. With 20 wickets in 14 matches, he missed the Purple Cap last year by just 3 wickets. With the rest of the bowling attack (except Steyn) being inconsistent so far, Warner will bank heavily on Bhuvneshwar to lead the attack.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (176 for 4) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (101 for 4) in 12 overs by 16 runs (D/L method).
A steady drizzle at the end of the first innings restricted the second innings to just 12 overs. And as with most rain breaks in limited overs cricket, Duckworth-Lewis made things more complicated: Sunrisers had posted a formidable 176/4 in 20 overs, but Knight Riders had to chase 118 in 12. Both teams looked unsure of their approach in the second innings. Rash shots were played. Catches were put down. Desperately attempted yorkers became full tosses.
Amidst all the rush, Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed to look unruffled as usual. With 37 runs needed to be scored off 18 balls and Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey at the crease, Bhuvneshwar was called to bowl the tenth over. He just gave away five runs. Later, he came back to bowl the final over in which he gave away eight.
While most bowlers try fancy things in Twenty20 cricket, Bhuvneshwar is an astute bowler who bowls according to the situation. Warner introduces him at the beginning of the innings and then bowls towards the end. At the start of the innings, Bhuvneshwar bowls the good length deliveries, trying to extract the most from swing-friendly conditions. During the death overs, instead of varying his line and length, he banks on the tried and tested method to stifle the batsmen in limited overs cricket: yorkers.
Master of the yorker
After the advent of the dilscoop, the helicopter shot, and the reverse-sweep, the yorker is no more a foolproof delivery to curb the flow of runs. But there are slight variations in yorkers, which, if used intelligently and accurately, can make life difficult for a batsman looking to score some quick runs towards the end.
The first of these is the conventional one of attacking the stumps. If it’s bowled accurately, the batsman finds it extremely hard to score off this delivery unless he commits himself to a scoop.
Another way is to bowl the yorker wide outside the off-stump. With appropriate field placements on the off side, a batsman could get caught in the deep, reaching out for the delivery, or he might edge it to the wicket-keeper.
The third type of yorker follows the batsman when he is trying to create room and smash the ball towards the long off boundary. This might not result in a wicket, but it makes the batsman lose his balance and completely cramp him.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar can bowl all the three types of yorkers with great precision. He lacks pace but he more than compensates for that with his intelligence and accuracy. He takes into account the batsman on strike, the game situation, and the conditions. On the rare instances he gets it wrong, he doesn’t get flustered like most fast bowlers in T20.
Modest but deadly
There is an unassuming charm about the way Bhuvneshwar Kumar carries himself. He doesn’t have the pace and ferocity of Dale Steyn or Trent Boult. He has the temperament that his fellow Kumar (Praveen) in the team lacks sometimes. You rarely see him indulging in wild celebrations after taking a wicket. The focus, it seems, is more on the process than the result.
Another strength of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s is that he acknowledges his weaknesses. For instance, when he was asked about increasing his speed, he said that he would never compromise on his swing for speed. “If anybody tells me to bowl at 140 kmph, I would not love to do so because when you bowl at that pace, there are big chances of the ball not swinging enough,” he was quoted as saying. He is comfortable bowling at 130-135 kmph and looks to create his chances by bowling an accurate line.
In a team that has the world’s premier fast-bowler, Dale Steyn, Kumar was Sunrisers’ highest wicket-taker in the last IPL. With 20 wickets in 14 matches, he missed the Purple Cap last year by just 3 wickets. With the rest of the bowling attack (except Steyn) being inconsistent so far, Warner will bank heavily on Bhuvneshwar to lead the attack.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (176 for 4) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (101 for 4) in 12 overs by 16 runs (D/L method).
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