"Has strong ability to read game": SRH head coach hails Pat Cummins ahead of RCB clash

The Pat Cummin-led side will play bottom-placed RCB in the 41st encounter of the IPL 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.

The SRH head coach stated that the fearless attitude is contagious with batters like Travis Head ad Abhishek Sharma at the top.

"Yes, the fearless attitude is contagious, with such quality of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma at the top. We have players complementing them. Those two were fantastic. We all know Klassen is one of the best in the world. But to get performances from Samad, Nitish has been the real difference maker. Every game someone is out to contribute to the team," Vettori said in a pre-match press conference.

The 45-year-old further stated that Cummins is always well prepared and his performance in this season so far has been of high standard.

"Cummins is always well prepared. The performances have been of high standard. He has a strong ability to read the game. He works with bowlers and coaches. That worked well. We have some pressure situations particularly with ball, defending totals. But he made the difference," the former New Zealand skipper asserted.

Further, the legendary spinner lauded the bowlers of his side saying that they have performed exceptionally well so far in the ongoing 17th edition of the cash-rich league.

"If you win the game by 25 or 40 runs, you take that every day. Though the scores are high, when you post big scores, you expect teams to come hard to chase. The wickets are good. The bowlers have done exceptionally well. That was highlighted by Natarajan in the last game. We can't look at economies, as long as they are below the required rate in the game, they are good," the former Blackcaps cricketer stated.

In the end, Vettori spoke about the Impact Player rule. He said that this rule has made our selection very easy in the 2024 edition of IPL.

"We can take the game on. It is not just us, all the other teams were ready to take on the bowlers. No, I don't think it undermines the role of all-rounders. I think if you look at our team, Nitish and Abhishek did bowl a bit. Nitish bowled well, it gives us more options. In fact, the impact rule made our selection very easy. I think because you cover so many bases. When it comes to the selection table, it makes our a lot easier," the former Kiwi spinner concluded.

The Hyderabad-based franchise has displayed good performance in the 17th season of the IPL. Pat Cummins' side is in third place on the points table with ten points and a net run rate of +0.914.

SRH squad for IPL 2024: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (Wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mayank Agarwal. (ANI)