“Young people on our team? That’s an oxymoron! (Serie) “
This was the joke of Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming when asked about Sam Curran in particular during an interview on the bench at IPL 2020. Curran, 22, with his youthful looks and mischievous energy, is an anomaly. in the Super Kings. Daddy’s army. As the rest of the aging squad runs between the wickets, Curran runs like a whip and attacks the ball in the hot spots along with Faf du Plessis. While the rest of the hitters go slow, Curran runs off the blocks and breaks six. He has played just eight games for the Super Kings, but both Fleming and MS Dhoni already trust him enough to defeat the heavy hitters in power play and death. Because Curran makes things happen like a certain Ben Stokes does.
He made things happen with both the bat and the ball against the Hyderabad Sunrisers in the power play to revive the Super Kings’ campaign in Dubai. After breaking 31 of 21 balls, replacing Shane Watson at the top, he grabbed the key wicket from David Warner to set the stage for the Super Kings victory.
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Going into this game, Curran’s first ten-ball hitting rate at this IPL was 226.67, his best so far this season, so there was good reason to kick it in order. Curran had started once in T20 cricket previously, for the Punjab Kings XI last year, hitting 20 of 10 balls. But the Super Kings tend to be rigid with their game plans; Probably the last time they tried anything funky at the top was when R Ashwin was promoted to lead batting alongside Mike Hussey at Eden Gardens at IPL 2013.
“We saw a glimpse today of what he can potentially do for us in the future. He is a very good addition for us.”
Coach Stephen Fleming on Curran
Seven seasons later, the Super Kings management took an equally funky approach. It seemed like it might backfire on early exchanges. From the wicket, Sandeep Sharma encountered Curran’s outer edge bounded by folds with his first delivery and then struck his outer edge twice. Then, in the second more, he was hit by a sharp, upward delivery away from Khaleel Ahmed. He gave Ahmed a four on the same over, but the Super Kings had improvised just 12 runs for the loss of du Plessis in form by a duck in three overs.
Curran had finished groping and guessing. He unleashed his big shot and rewarded the Super Kings with 4,4,6,1,6 in Ahmed’s second over. Curran is not someone who moves his feet a lot; the power comes from his fast hands and strong base. Take a look at the last six. Ahmed slides in a 121.6 km / h offcutter at chest height and while Curran doesn’t go as far into the crease as many other hitters, he opens his hips, maintains his form and disdainfully hits the pitcher over his head. He claimed 31 of the 44 runs the Super Kings had scored in the power play.
Curran’s move to the top also allowed Watson and Ambati Rayudu to face Rashid Khan in the middle. Both batsmen have not been fired by Khan in T20 cricket and have hit a six apiece in Khan’s latest over. Khan ended up wicketless, as did Shahbaz Nadeem, the other spinner.
Curran hadn’t finished yet. He grabbed the new ball along with Deepak Chahar and found that the swing caused Warner to fall and hit his pad, but did not threaten the stumps. At the other end, Chahar also took an early swing, but it wasn’t full enough and it was partly due to Jonny Bairstow walking towards him. On his second over, Curran found inswing and packed Warner for space again, this time the Sunrisers captain waved a catch back off an inside edge. Warner fell 9 of 13 balls. Curran was not needed in death as the Super Kings had six other bowling options. Piyush Chawla, meanwhile, was needed for one time only.
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Curran’s overall success has added more depth to the Super Kings ‘lineup and if he can continue to make powerful cameos at the top, it could ease the burden on the Super Kings’ half-failed order in the second half of the tournament. . Fleming was so impressed with Curran that he suggested he could continue to open up batting for the Super Kings.
“As for his contribution so far, he has exceeded, I think, [in delivering] what we wanted, “Fleming said at the post-game press conference.” Probably not in his eyes because he’s so competitive. And every time you’ve had a challenge, you’ve overcome it. He’s been desperate to come in and make a difference with the bat. And I think today we saw a glimpse of what it can potentially do for us in the future. He’s a very good addition for us. “
Dhoni, too, delivered a glowing appraisal of Curran in the post-game presentation, calling him a “complete cricketer” who can hit anywhere and even take on spinners. Now that the Super Kings have finally found a way to maximize Curran’s abilities, can he continue to make things happen for the Super Kings and also strengthen his case for a permanent spot in England’s T20 XI?
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