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Can KKR stop the Cummins juggernaut?

May 26, 2024
Bharath Ramaraj
PC – BCCI. Will Cummins win one more major trophy?

After 65 days, around 1560 hours and 73 matches, we are down to one last game in IPL 2024 –Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders will take on each other in the marquee clash in Chennai. So, how is the mood ahead of the final? Unfortunately, as Chennai Super Kings, the home side, couldn’t progress to the playoffs stage, the Qualifier 2 game between SRH and Rajasthan Royals seemed to lack the trademark frenzied atmosphere. Only at 5.30-6.00 PM in the evening, fans started to flock to the stadium.

Just to give you a better idea, when CSK are playing on their home turf, fans make a beeline to the ground at around 2 PM itself. Eventually, however, a sizeable portion of the seats were filled, with the official attendance turning out to be 29,225. SRH won the do-or-die game to make it to the summit clash, where they will meet the in-form Kolkata Knight Riders. Hopefully, we will witness a jam-packed stadium for the final. 

So, who will get the top billing for the final? Maybe it is KKR. After all, they have only lost three matches in the tournament so far. Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, the spin duo, aren’t just good at containing the runs. They have picked up wickets at regular intervals. In fact, Chakravarthy is currently the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. With it expected to be a red soil pitch, he could extract a bit more bounce in the final. 

Moreover, Mitchell Starc, the pace-spearhead, has returned to form at the right time. And he also has a clear upper hand in his match-up against Travis Head, having dismissed him five times over the past decade. In Qualifier 1, he once more removed Head. Starc’s plan while bowling to both Abhishek Sharma and Head would be simple — tuck up the openers for room by pitching it around a good length and zoom it on the stumps. Any movement upfront would only sharpen his arsenal. 

Andre Russell has also added teeth to the bowling line-up. The explosive all-rounder has been hitting the deck and picking up vital wickets. Meanwhile, with Phil Salt having left the IPL, because of national commitments, KKR would depend heavily on Narine to provide a quick start. Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer have managed to accumulate over 300 runs. Lower down the order, alongside Russell, SRH have to also keep an eye on Ramandeep Singh’s hitting prowess. 

SRH, too, have more than enough artillery to match their opponent. Along with Head and Abhishek, the Hyderabad side has Heinrich Klaasen. The wicketkeeper has the required game to play power-packed shots against both spin and pace. With Rahul Tripathi also finding his groove, SRH would believe they can negate the spin threat of Chakaravarthy and Narine.

Pat Cummins has not just taken up the gauntlet of bowling the tough overs, he has combined it with good leadership skills. Perhaps, being a bowler himself, he understands the psyche of others in that department. The essence of that point can be observed by how T Natarajan seems to have grown in confidence under Cummins’ captaincy. There were a few question marks surrounding their spin department. But in the nick of time, Shahbaz Ahmed bowled incisively versus RR. He didn’t just bowl quicker through the air but also imparted enough revs on the ball. 

Can Cummins continue his Midas touch? Will the Gautam Gambhir-Chandrakant Pandit-Iyer trio stop the Cummins juggernaut? What about the subplot of Head once again going up against Starc? Then there is the unpredictability factor surrounding rain and the dew factor. The forecast, however, is better for tomorrow, and there wasn’t much dew during the SRH-RR encounter. Logic says KKR would lift the trophy, but there is no doubt that SRH also have a formidable side. And they are playing under a captain, who is winning virtually everything.