Shahbaz Ahmed joins Sports Tak live show via video call after SRH reach IPL 2024 final, says he felt disappointed after batting

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) impact player and ‘Player of the match’, Shahbaz Ahmed joined Sports Tak’s post-match live show via video call. After the convincing win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, Shahbaz revealed that he doesn’t feel any pressure in the SRH camp. Also, he revealed the moment he knew he will get to bowl. 
 

“The best thing about SRH camp is that there is no pressure,” Shahbaz said. “When I was batting towards the end, I struggled a bit. I felt I will get to bowl. Pat Cummins shows faith in me against lefty or righty. I also felt disappointed that we should have put 10 more runs on the board.” 
 

Ahead of the IPL 2024 final against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the all-rounder vows to give his best.
 

“We will try our best. I don’t want to say anything before. Both teams are good and it will be a good contest,” he said before signing off. 
 

How Shahbaz fared in the qualifier clash

Shahbaz walked in to bat at no.8 after SRH lost a couple of quick wickets. He supported SRH wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen who scored a half-century. He contributed with a run-a-ball 18 and helped SRH post 175/9 on the board. 

 

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While defending the total, Cummins introduced him into the attack after powerplay overs when opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was going all guns blazing. Shahbaz got the prized wicket of Jaiswal who contributed with a quickfire 42. Later, he got the wickets of an in-form Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin in the same over. The left-arm spinner bowled his full quota of four overs and conceded 23 runs. SRH won the game by 36 runs despite Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten half-century. 
 

Whose idea was it to use Shahbaz as impact player?

After the win, skipper Cummins revealed that it was the head coach Daniel Vettori's idea to use Shahbaz as their impact player.
 

“Dan Vettori, left-arm orthodox and wanted as many left-arm orthodox as possible,” Cummins said in the post-match presentation. 
 

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