"Today, it wasn't the surface where you could just go hell for leather every single ball," Varun Aaron, Sunrisers Hyderabad's pace bowling coach, assessed after the game @L0$ Delhi Capitals in Hyderabad.
Yet somehow, 30 overs into the match, 349 runs were scored and only three wickets were picked by bowlers; including one well-timed flick to a full-toss from KL Rahul landing straight to the fielder in the deep.
Clearly, the idea of going 'hell-for-leather' itself is reshaping its definition in T20 cricket.
Till that point in Capitals' run chase, it seemed as if it was yet another match turning into yet another boundary-fest. The balls were rarely beating the bat; instead they were racing to and past the ropes once every five deliveries. Wickets falling to bowlers almost seemed like an accident. Variations, matchups, anti-matchups, everything was thrown at the batters - even if largely away from that sacrosanct arc - but the surface was designed to be merciless barring the token early movement. It was like boxers standing on the same ring were landing punches to pillows instead of testing their chops against each other - whoever hits the hardest wins. All movement and action and skills, but too soulless to be called a sport.
Just as the boredom and boundary-saturation had just begun to settle in, Eshan Malinga, in the 11th over, drew life into the game. The ball had started to reverse swing, and almost as if the pillow was landing some counter-punches, in successive deliveries, he sent Nitish Rana and David Miller packing back.
It was a jolt that Capitals couldn't recover from despite some big hits from Tristan Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi. The rescue act helped them stay in the contest with a mathematical possibility till the start of the penultimate over, but the eventual result had become glaringly obvious when Stubbs departed in the last ball of the 16th over. In a matter of six overs, the near-equal probability had been ground to dust. In some ways, that's the nature of neo-T20 cricket; a brief slip-up for a few overs, and there is no way back.
The chief architects of this slide were Malinga and Sakib Hussain. While the Sri Lankan troubled the batters with reverse swing and fine execution of the yorkers, Sakib used his pace variations effectively. This combined attack by the bowlers had helped SRH contain a potential late surge from CSK as well in the previous game, ensuring a distance of 10 runs eventually.
As the required rate continued to shoot up towards the death overs on Tuesday, and Capitals went searching for the big hits, Sakib and Malinga ensured only four boundaries were scored off their last four overs - and no sixes. Sakib and Malinga turning up for SRH in the death overs has become a predictable trend.
Against CSK, the duo conceded only 30 runs of their last combined four overs, before Nitish Reddy and Praful Hinge could use the cushion to close off the victory. A similar tactic was employed against DC, which enabled Harsh Dubey to return with three wickets in the final over.
The duo's performance has been central to Sunrisers Hyderabad's three-match victorious run at home, which has propelled them to the third spot on the points table. When SRH had come to Hyderabad more than a week ago, they were languishing at the bottom with only one win in four games. While an Abhishek Sharma century on Tuesday may take the spotlight - just like it was with Hinge's three-wicket burst in the opening over against Rajasthan Royals - it has been Sakib and Malinga who have consistently delivered over the last three games on surfaces that don't necessarily have much assistance for them.
The young pacers trusted to fulfill the responsibility that veterans like Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel couldn't effectively, have stood tall in the face of that challenge so far.
"Going into this year, one of our plan was to have bowlers who can offer something to the captain irrespective of the surface," Aaron revealed on Tuesday. "Sakib and Malinga almost remove the surface from the equation with their skills. That stood out for me and for everybody."
"They have got skills which set them apart from any other bowler. With Malinga, he gets the ball to reverse, which gets tough for the opponent. We saw the ball reverse from the 12th [11th] over. It gets tough because with the white-ball you really can't see where the shiny side is. And then he can execute his yorkers, has a brilliant slow ball and can bowl 140 plus, 145 almost."
"And with Sakib, that slow ball is just brilliant. He is almost getting as much turn as an off spinner on the slow ball - same arm speed, executes his yorkers, can bowl 140 plus as well. With the way the game is headed and with the way IPL is going, you have to have that pace variance where you can go from 140, 145 down to almost 107 because Sakib's, one of his slow balls were 107."
While Malinga comes with international experience, Sakib has made a seamless transition into the big world of the IPL. After a prolific four-wicket haul on debut against Royals, he has backed it up with effective performances at crucial stages in the game.
"I have seen Sakib for almost two years," Aaron said. "He always had the pace, very quick arm action, very awkward. As a bowler, especially at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, on our wicket, if you have a beautiful action and you bowl 140+, you are just going to get lined up. You just got to have some difference and obviously, that slow ball is brilliant. So, he had the skills. Obviously, he didn't have the access to getting coached long term. And he has put in a lot of work over the last couple of months. Right from when the World Cup started, we have had camps for him specifically. He flew down to Bombay for five days, then we called him to Chennai. There has been a lot of work which has gone behind the scenes immediately after the auction, and he has responded really well. "
Heaping praise on the effort put in by Sakib, Aaron added. "He has that will, he has that hunger. That's the most important thing. You might have the best skills in the world, but if you don't have the will and don't have the hunger, it's not going to work out."
One common aspect for both of them is that they have been able to land on good length repeatedly, a length that has proven especially effective for wickets as well as economy in Hyderabad this season, which has led to the difference. Against Capitals, while the rest of the pacers went at 11.35, the SRH duo conceded at only 7.62.
And this has been the pattern across the last three games in Hyderabad. Against CSK, they conceded at the same rate, but the rest were marginally lesser, leaking runs at 9.76 per over. Against RR, they had it even better, conceding only at 6.87 while rest of the pacers went at 10.36.
To add to the miserly economy rates while bowling tough overs, they have also struck blows at crucial times that sucked away the momentum from the match. Over these three games, they have combined to return 15 wickets.
Reserving praise for Malinga, Aaron added, "Malinga obviously has so much potential. I don't even think he has reached his peak potential because I really feel he can be a very good new ball bowler. He hasn't taken the new ball yet for us. But I think in the future, you would see him taking the new ball. That's one level he hasn't unlocked yet in his game, which I feel. I'm sure he'll do really well for us, but I see him as a mainstay for Sri Lanka as well."
For a team that has boasted its batting might for all these years, steadying themselves up in the absence of their captain, and injuries and loss of form for senior players, it's the young pacers who have been doing the less glamorous work to ensure their team's victories. In doing so, they have found ways to keep themselves and their ilk relevant game-changers even in a boundary-loving sport.
