Shahbaz Ahmed has played every game for Sunrisers Hyderabad this season but has bowled only 150 balls and faced 159 in his 15 appearances for the side.
Twenty-four of those 150 deliveries were bowled last night and it was the first occasion where he bowled his full quote of overs.
Prior to the Qualifier 2, he bowled three-over spells only twice in the tournament. Batting was on similar lines too as the left-hander faced decent amount of deliveries only when either the top-order fell cheaply or there was a collapse in the middle-overs.
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To cut a long story short, he was looked at as a filler who is capable of rolling his arm over and doing a handy job with the ball. The batting, especially after the 40* vs RCB and 59* vs DC, was looked at as the dominant skill and it has often made the bowling take a back-seat.
It didn’t come as a surprise when the SRH management used him as an Impact Player after the batting collapse and that 43-run stand with Heinrich Klaasen, which turned out to be the highest partnership in the match, was gold dust. Pat Cummins revealed at post-match presentation that it was coach Daniel Vettori’s decision to use Shahbaz and assistant coach Simon Helmot explained how the move gave the side a “multi-skilled player.”
“We needed a batter to come in and we knew how skilful he is with the ball as well, so we were getting a multi-skilled player in that position, so it just happened that we thought we were a few runs short, so we needed to get another partnership or two at the back end to try and get a competitive total and he certainly helped us out with that,” says Helmot.
Shahbaz for sure chipped in with crucial runs but with the dew not arriving and the pitch holding up a bit, it was his bowling which was soon going to be the biggest talking point of the night. It was probably the seventh over of RR’s chase where Pat Cummins could have got his cue to introduce spin. Jaydev Unadkat bowled a lot of off-cutters in that over and both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson weren’t able to get any timing.
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Cummins didn’t waste any time in bringing Shahbaz on and the spinner, after getting hit for a six off the second delivery, got rid of a dangerous-looking Jaiswal for a 21-ball 42. The RR opener was looking to make most of the favourable match-up but chose the bigger side of the ground and failed to make good connection.
A tight over followed and then came the third where he picked the wickets of Riyan Parag and R Ashwin in quick succession. By now the pitch had started to offer a lot more turn than the first innings, 3.3 degrees as compared to 1.8, and Shahbaz was utilising every bit of it.
“He’s (Shahbaz) had his best day for the Sunrisers today, him and Abhishek’s spell in the middle there, what was it, five wickets, close to 47 runs, eight overs, that was a fantastic output from them,” adds Helmot.
Shahbaz has been a “multi-skilled” cricketer for over five years in the domestic circuit and his numbers show all-round contributions he has had for Bengal.
Apart from the impressive T20 and one-day numbers, the left-hander has a First Class batting average of nearly 43 and bowling average of 21.96. In the 2021-22 season, he was the side’s leading run-getter and joint-highest wicket-taker too.
Very few all-rounders have remained relevant after the introduction of Impact Player rule and Shahbaz has been one of them as he continues to be a regular in the SRH Playing XI. The script, however, changed for the 29-year-old who was playing the supporting role in fixtures prior to the eventful night in Chennai.
With 3/23, his best outing in the league in three seasons, and 18, Shahbaz was the lead hero but isn’t keen on celebrating the blockbuster outing yet.
“I’m feeling proud at having got the Man of the Match in such a game, the atmosphere is quite relaxed in the camp. We will celebrate only after winning the final, tonight we will just relax,” says Shahbaz after collecting his first Player of the Match trophy this season.
The title is just one win away and Shahbaz would eye another all-round show in the title clash against a side which was desperate to have him on board in 2022.
KKR had engaged in a bidding war with RCB during the 2022 auction but didn’t stretch beyond Rs 1 crore. SRH were the late entrant but RCB were determined to get their all-rounder back, and they did.
When a trading opportunity came their way, SRH executed it and got Shahbaz on board by trading Mayank Dagar to RCB. The trade has worked out beautifully for the Hyderabad unit this season and Sunday will be an opportunity for Shahbaz to tell KKR why he was worth those few more raises of the paddle.
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