Harsha Bhogle: Shakib Al Hasan is Sunrisers’ key player
Renowned and revered cricket analyst Harsha Bhogle believes that the T20I and Test captain of Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan, is the key player for Hyderabad in the upcoming Indian Premier League.
After playing with the Kolkata Knight Riders since 2011, Shakib was released by the Kolkata franchise in this year’s auction. He wasn’t given many chances in last year’s edition as well as he played in only one game in 2017.
In the auction, Kolkata refrained from bidding for him and didn’t use the right-to-match card on the best all-rounder in the world. As a result, Sunrisers snapped him up for 2 crore rupees and he subsequently found a new home in the biggest domestic competition in the world.
Meanwhile, Harsha Bhogle had his say on the players of the Sunrisers, stating that Shakib’s presence not only makes up for the lack of Indian spinners but also gives them a batting option at the top order, which is why he is the key player for them.
"Sunrisers made up for that [lack of quality Indian spinners] with three quality overseas spinners [Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammed Nabi, and Rashid Khan] and that is why, because two of them are really good all-rounders at this level, I would play all three of them because there are more seam bowling options available.
"I have Shakib Al Hasan at number four. I think he plays the role of a senior player for Bangladesh so well. He is a very aggressive player.
"Simply because, he bats at top 4, he leads his side and he wins them matches with the bat and with the ball, I think Shakib Al Hasan is the key player to watch out for.”
Given that David Warner is out of the Indian Premier League this season, Sunrisers will need the others to up their game in order to make up for the absence of their irreplaceable former captain. This is why Shakib’s role has become even more important as he will have to come up with the goods with both the bat and the ball.
