NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Daniel Vettori has defended Mohammed Shami's poor performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also revealed the reason why Nitish Kumar Reddy didn't bowl much this season.
Vettori said lack of T20 cricket (IPL games) has affected Shami in this year's IPL. The 34-year-old, who has not been picked for the upcoming Test series against England, has played nine games, picked up six wickets but leaked runs at 11.23. Shami, who was picked for Rs 10 crore in the mega auction, was dropped by the SRH management in the second leg of the tournament.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!"It is a long time ago that he played T20 cricket (IPL), so it always takes a little bit to acclimate back into it," Vettori told reporters after SRH's commanding 110-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.
Who's that IPL player?Shami last played in the IPL in 2023 for Gujarat Titans, where he took 28 wickets and won the Purple Cap. However, the speedster also played the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Bengal in December last year, where he picked up 11 wickets in nine outings.
"The game has progressed very quickly over those 18 months since the last time he played for GT and was a Purple Cap winner," said Vettori.
"I just think the challenge is remaining consistent for him. I think that's where he's at his best when he hits that length, and probably just wasn't at that metronomically best that we've seen in the past, and that's partly a long layoff, that's partly the game.
"I know that he worked exceptionally hard and he was desperate to do well, but it just wasn't quite his season, but there's no reason why he can't bounce back because of the quality of the bowler that he is," he added.
Nitish Kumar Reddy's fitnessFormer SRH bowling coach Dale Steyn was the first to raise questions about Nitish Kumar Reddy not bowling enough.
"Have SRH just forgotten that Reddy can bowl…? Has a bit of a golden arm, absolutely worth an over or two," Steyn wrote on X on April 17.
"If he’s injured then it’s understandable, but he seems to be batting just fine, so…"
The 22-year-old was one of the finds of the IPL last year, where he smacked 303 runs while batting in the middle order with a strike rate of 142.92, and had bowled in seven innings, picking up three wickets. Whereas in this year's IPL, he struggled with the bat as he managed only 182 runs in 11 innings and bowled only in three matches, that too when SRH were out of the playoff race.
"He brought a side-strain into the tournament, which obviously he had throughout, is the reason why he missed a lot of cricket prior to that, and then it was just a slow, meticulous build-up," said Vettori.
"He was ready just before the tournament break, so we anticipated him bowling maybe the last five to six games, which was what happened, so it was purely down to injury," he said.
On Reddy's batting, the SRH head coach said: "I mean, it's always tricky; that role, the number four or five position, is one of the most difficult in IPL, and he's always normally coming in on the back of that aggressive style. We know that Nitish, when he's at his best, gives himself a chance, builds his innings and then can capitalise at the end against pace and spin."
"I think it's just one of those seasons that's a little bit of a learning for him, but he's too good a player not to bounce back."
With six wins and seven losses in the tournament, last year's runners-up finished sixth in the points table.
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