Hyderabad between Punjab and Play-offs (Preview)

From being the weakest team of the tournament to a scenario where they could well find themselves playing play-offs, Punjab have been the team that has given the fans lot to cheer with blockbuster batting displays, prime reason for their renaissance. Not many had given them chance of where Priety Zinta owned team stand today with one group match still to play. They were certainly thin on bowling resources, though, batting had many of it.

True to their reputation, most of heavyweights in the batting lineup scored big with Shaun Marsh and new batting sensation Paul Valthaty occupying first two slots in the ‘Orange Cup’ chart. Arguably the most sizzling innings of IPL-4 came from their skipper Adam Gilchrist who tore apart Bangalore to set up a huge total and take them at a striking distance from making it to the play-offs. Gilly’s blistering century was a remainder that age is just a number and that runs, that too with some authority, can be made even at the age of 42 years.Of late bowling has also come good with out of form Piyush Chawla among the wickets by getting his leg spinners to land on right spot and foxing batsmen with his well disguised googly.

Though, a play-off spot isn’t entirely in their hands as they will have to wait for the results of the games featuring Kolkata and Mumbai as three of them battle for two vacant slots with Chennai and Bangalore already through.

Gilchrist’s side lost five marches in the middle stages of the tournament on a trot and that could well come to haunt them but either side of that unproductive period Punjab have been brilliant and breath of fresh air in the tournament.

To give themselves the best chance of making it to the top four, Punjab will have to overcome a stiff challenge from Hyderabad which despite being out of the title race have been on a roll with back to back convincing wins against Mumbai and Pune.

What gives Punjab advantage though is the fact that the encounter is going to be played at Dharamshala, the same venue where Gilly and company mauled Bangalore. The high altitude makes the cricket ball to travel big and long that suits the big hitters from the home side.

Without their first choice skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who will be rendering national duties in England, the visitors will be charged up to finish their unsuccessful campaign on a high. Hyderabad haven’t played to their potential and lying at eight position in the standing doesn’t justify to the talented pool of players they have. Arguably, having the most varied bowling attack in the tournament but that didn’t count for much as batsmen failed to deliver the goods at the crucial juncture. With nothing to lose kind of a scenario, Hyderabad might be tempted to blood some fresh faces.

For now, focus will be more on Punjab and that they have chance to make it to the play-off are bound to be under pressure more than Hyderabad.

PUNJAB

Players who can make impact

Adam Gilchrist…It would be utter foolishness to count out Punjab skipper after kind of innings he played against Bangalore on the same venue. After a quiet tournament, Gilly, finally, found his range and hitting arc to show what he is all about. Even a six-over stay at the crease, Gilly can knock the stuffing out of Hyderabad attack.

Praveen Kumar… The medium pacer has got better as the tournament progressed, getting the ball to swing both ways. His wicket taking abilities with the new ball have helped Punjab in a big way. With the Dharamshala surface having something for the seamers, Praveen could well turn out to be a handful against the inexperienced top order of Hyderabad.

SQUAD

Abhishek Nayar, Adam Gilchrist (c)(wk), Amit Yadav, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, David Hussey, David Miller, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Love Ablish, Mandeep Singh, Nathan Rimmington, Nitin Saini, Paras Dogra, Paul Valthaty, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris, Shalabh Srivastava, Shaun Marsh, Siddharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh, Vikramjeet Malik, Ryan McLaren.

HYDERABAD

Players who can make impact

Ishant Sharma…..The lanky pacer bowled one of the finest spells in the history of IPL against Kochi and won the match for his team. But, hasn’t been at his best either side of that sensational spell. Another good spell like that could well pave way for his inclusion in the test squad for the West Indies tour which is to be announced next month.

Amit Mishra…One of the few Indian recruits to perform for Hyderabad, Mishra has been skipper’s go to man this season. He brings calm and variety to the bowling attack. He turns his leg break consistently and has a well disguised googly to trouble batsmen.

SQUAD

Akash Bhandari, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Bharat Chipli, Cameron White, Chris Lynn, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, DR Teja, Harmeet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Ishank Jaggi, Ishant Sharma, Jaydev Shah, JP Duminy, Juan Theron, Kedar Devdhar, Manpreet Gony, Michael Lumb, Pragyan Ojha, Shikhar Dhawan, Sunny Sohal.