IPL 2024: SRH Spin Bowling Coach Muttiah Muralitharan Anticipates Tactical Adjustments from Teams to Limit Run Flow

Chennai Super Kings play host to the traveling Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League as the Orange Army travel to their southern neighbour’s home ground at the MA Chidambaram in Chennai. With the race for a playoff spot in the ongoing edition of the T20 event both teams look to pick up valuable points on the day to boost their chances of qualification. Ahead of the exciting encounter at The Den, SRH bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan opined that the fixture has all the makings of a high-scoring contest, barring a case of dry wickets. He touched the changing nature of the T20 game and scored over 200 this season. “It could be another high-scoring game as the game has changed a bit since last year. Teams are using the dominant player rule really well with the sides putting up big scores,” began the legendary spinner.

“However, if the wicket is dry and offers some spin, it will be a completely different ball game,” he added.

The current season of the cash-rich franchise cricket league has turned out to be a run-fest with bowlers taking plenty of runs throughout the tournament. However, Sri Lanka’s spin wizard expressed that the bowling units can come up with strategies to curb the huge flow of runs, as it is unwise to just write it off as a given going forward. He clarified that the sides will keep an eye on emerging patterns and come up with countermeasures. “It has happened this year, but we can’t write it off from here as the teams will sit down and study the pattern that has developed,” he revealed. He explained that the nature of the pitch has a big influence on the number of runs fans see and said that teams have gone with flat wickets this season.

“It’s always changing. The pitch affects it a lot and teams are preparing flat wickets,” said the 52-year-old.

He revealed that strike rate is another key factor that teams are focusing on this season in an attempt to improve their chances of winning by making the most of the 20 overs. “Teams are also looking at strike rate in many ways as they want to maximize the 120 deliveries available,” the SRH coach said. SRH have reiterated their intention to play ultra-aggressive cricket with the batting unit firing from all cylinders and Muralidhar expressed that sticking to the gameplan is more important than results. “We are looking to play a certain brand of cricket. We have lost a few games along the way, but despite the results, if the team plays the style of cricket we want, the coach will be happy. “A team cannot win all the games and there are going to be losses. If we are able to win 60 per cent of our games, we have a great chance to enter the playoffs,” he signed off.