These are magnificent men in the fast-lane with their great deliveries of fire. Opening up batters and scattering defences in different ways.
Among the stories of this year’s Tata-IPL has been the sheer quality, variety and firepower of the Sunrisers Hyderabad pace attack. It’s fast, furious and lethal with right and left-arm angles.
No wonder Kane Williamson had two slips the other night against RCB. And putting them all together is a hostile speed merchant, someone the legendary Michael Holding considers the greatest paceman of our times, Dale Steyn. With Steyn guiding them, these men need no inspiration.
There is the wily Bhuvneshwar Kumar with his two-way swing and subtle variations. He constantly threatens the edges. Then we have Marco Jansen, the latest pace sensation from South Africa. He is sharp, moves the ball either way from a left-armers angle. Being tall with a high-arm action, he can get bounce even when he pitches it up.
Adding some real firepower to the attack is Umran Malik with thunderbolts around 150 kmph. The young and exciting Umran is bowling with greater control this season; that’s not good news for the batters. His short-pitched missiles soften line-ups and his full deliveries can leave stumps in a mess.
Then there is the never-say-die T. Natarajan, who like Jansen, brings into play the left-armer’s angle. He bowls with great heart at the death, sending down precision yorkers. He has increased his speed and is bowling stump to stump, giving little away.
The strike force of SRH is indeed an awesome foursome of contrasts.