‘Very fortunate to have Rashid Khan in our team’ – Kane Williamson

Sunrisers Hyderabad were one of two Indian Premier League 2018 teams that had been hit hard by events many miles away in Cape Town. The ball-tampering incident led to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft being sanctioned, and like Smith at Rajasthan, Hyderabad lost Warner, their first-choice captain.

Thrust into the hot seat was Kane Williamson, a man of undisputed class and authority in international cricket but someone who had played just 15 matches for 411 runs in the past in the IPL.

It could have been tricky, but it wasn’t. Williamson has led from the front at Hyderabad, and ahead of the final against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday 27 May, he is at the top of the scorers’ chart with 688 runs against his name.

“I think it’s been an easy transition for our team given that Kane’s been part of the Sunrisers setup for a few years … those who were there in the previous years were very familiar with Kane as a person and a lot of people sort of forget the fact that even though you don’t have a type as a leader, he naturally offered his leadership around the group,” pointed out Tom Moody, the Hyderabad coach.

“Whether he was in the playing XI or not in the playing XI, I know for certain David Warner relied on him a lot with his advice on match day or outside. So, given that was the history, the actual transition was a very smooth transition. I think it’s just a case of him adapting to a new environment to captain and the IPL is a unique environment and he’s done that like duck to water.”

Williamson, soft-spoken as always, accepted that the captaincy experience has been an interesting one, and that he has learnt things about himself in the process.

“The captaincy came fairly suddenly,” he said. “It’s been an enjoyable experience. Exciting to learn something about myself and the guys in the team – different cultures, different parts of the world with Tom and the management.

“Davey is a big part of the franchise as a player and as a leader. He’s contributed so much in the last few years and obviously as events unfolded, things changed pretty quickly. But as a team we gelled pretty quickly together to try and start operating well as a unit.”

Well as Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan (471 runs) have batted, Hyderabad’s victories have been scripted in the main by the bowlers.

Both Rashid Khan, the Afghan leg-spinner, and Siddarth Kaul, the uncapped medium pacer, have 21 wickets from 16 games, with Khan also among the bowlers with the best economy rates: 6.78. Sandeep Sharma has kept things tight, Shakib Al Hasan has provided key breakthroughs, and even though Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been slightly off the boil, Hyderabad have been solid with the ball.

And Williamson was quick to credit Khan, who starred in the win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier 2 with a 10-ball 34* first and then remarkable returns of 3/19.

“Obviously, left-hand, right-hand batsmen and having the ability to take it away from both of those players on surfaces that offer a little bit of turn is definitely an asset to have. We are very fortunate to have Rashid Khan in our team. He’s been outstanding throughout the whole campaign and hopefully tomorrow night he can do it all over again,” said Williamson.

Moody, who has stressed again and again that Twenty20 cricket isn’t all about the batsmen and that Hyderabad had made an effort to get the right bowling combination in place at the auction, added, “We’ve seen how over the recent years bowlers have significant influences in T20 games and tournaments. Yes, generally the odds are stacked in favour of the batsmen given the nature of the game, but I think we’ve seen bowlers emerge over time to really challenge top orders and then you’ve got to look at someone like Sunil Narine, who’s done it consistently for the whole of the IPL.

“With regards to our bowling attack, they’ve done an excellent job. There’s no question about that. We played on a number of varied wickets throughout the tournament and we’ve managed to adjust pretty effectively with Kane’s leadership with regards to how he used those bowlers throughout the 20 overs. We’ve managed to more often than not get it right.”