(Cricket news) Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a six-wicket win over CSK in their fourth match of the TATA IPL 2024 in Hyderabad on Friday. Chasing 166 for victory, SRH won the game with 11 balls to spare. JioCinema TATA IPL experts Aakash Chopra, Shane Watson and Ajay Jadeja discussed the knock of Abhishek Sharma (37 runs, 0/7), CSK’s form away from home, and SRH’s batting, on ‘Match Centre Live’. Excerpts:
Aakash Chopra, JioCinema TATA IPL expert, on Abhishek Sharma’s knock: Instilling confidence in players is crucial. It’s one thing to tell them not to worry about their place in the side and then drop them a few matches later. This is what happened to him last season. He was dropped early in the tournament and was brought back later.
This year, he scored a 50 against Mumbai and has been consistent. He’s continuing to play with clarity of thought. His skills are the same, nobody changes their skills overnight in the IPL. But you can give them freedom and confidence by telling them, ‘Go live your life. We won’t say anything’. That freedom has been given to him. He’s played well for Punjab in the last two years. He’s a powerful player and there’s no doubt about that.
Ajay Jadeja, JioCinema TATA IPL expert, on SRH’s batting: The word momentum is used a lot, but Aiden Markram kept that going. CSK prepared for Travis Head thinking he’d be the big hitter, but after what Abhishek Sharma did, they didn’t even get a chance to think about Markram. By the time they were ready to bowl to him, Sharma had already scored big runs and got out.
Shane Watson, JioCinema TATA IPL expert, on CSK’s struggles away from home: Either at home or away, they’ve got to find a way to win. They can get caught up sometimes and worry about not playing on their home turf, getting the crowd and all that stuff behind them. But ultimately, you’ve got to play good and smart cricket. It doesn’t matter where you’re playing, and pick the right players that suit the right venue.
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