“If Cameron Green is not going to bowl, KKR will have to consider bringing in another specialist batter”: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their first win of this TATA IPL with a dominating 65-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders. Sunil Gavaskar and Piyush Chawla discussed KKR all-rounder Cameron Green’s role, SRH all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy’s bowling, and the crucial partnership between Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy that helped SRH post a strong total.

Sunil Gavaskar spoke about KKR’s team combination and Cameron Green’s role in the side:

“KKR will need to think about their combination if Cameron Green is not going to bowl. If he isn’t contributing with the ball, then they might have to consider bringing in another specialist batter. We know he has scored a hundred in the IPL and that he can bat well, but his form hasn’t been great recently. Yes, he scored a hundred in a red-ball game in Australia not long ago, but this is where the team needs to look closely at the numbers. Green at No. 4 is fine, but the bigger concern seems to be the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, where they appear to be struggling a bit.”

On Nitish Kumar Reddy’s bowling improvement:

“He is definitely bowling quicker now and has clearly added a bit more pace. You can see better rhythm and flow in his action as well. That often happens when a player is fully fit and stronger physically. He was praising his physical trainer and conditioning work, and that is a big positive. He’s also getting the ball to bounce a little more, which we saw in the first game as well. That’s very encouraging news for India.”

Piyush Chawla analysed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting performance:

“SRH started well with the bat and gave themselves a strong platform. Historically, teams that get such starts go on to win most of the time. However, they lost a few wickets in the middle overs, which slowed things down a bit. A lot of credit goes to Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy for the partnership they built. Klaasen, in particular, played slightly differently from his usual style. He took his time and focused on taking the game deep, and that approach really helped SRH push the total past 220.”