Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Daniel Vettori has backed fast bowler Mohammed Shami to bounce back strongly next season after his forgettable return to the Indian Premier League (IPL). Shami picked just six wickets from nine matches as he looked completely out of rhythm for the entire season.
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00:00It is a long time ago that he played T20 cricket,
00:03so it always takes a little bit to acclimate back into it.
00:06And obviously the game has progressed very quickly over those 18 months
00:11since the last time he played for GT, he's a Purple Cap winner.
00:13So I just think the challenges of remaining consistent for him,
00:18I think that's where he's at his best when he hits that length
00:21and probably just wasn't at that metronomical best that we've seen in the past.
00:27And that's partly a long layoff.
00:29That's partly the game.
00:31And I know that he worked exceptionally hard and he was desperate to do well,
00:35but it just wasn't quite a season.
00:37But there's no reason why he can't bounce back
00:39because of the quality of the bowler that he is.
00:42Look, I think we're very pleased with what he's done
00:45since he's come into the team.
00:46He's obviously a very clever bowler, understands conditions well,
00:50understands how he needs to bowl and can mix it up.
00:53And I suppose we were desperate for that little bit of control
00:56and he's been able to do that in all three games that he's played so far.
01:00And the great thing for him is between now and the next IPL,
01:03he's going to play a lot of cricket, whether it's for India A or his domestic team.
01:08There's going to be a huge amount of opportunities for him.
01:10So we believe he can grow as a bowler and also as a batter
01:13because the batting part of it was a big part of our decision-making too.
01:18He brought a side strain into the tournament,
01:20which obviously he had throughout the reason why he missed a lot of cricket prior to that.
01:26And then it was just a slow, meticulous build-up.
01:28He was ready just before the tournament break.
01:32So we anticipated him bowling maybe the last five to six games,
01:36which was what happened.
01:37So it was purely down to injury.
01:40I mean, it's always tricky.
01:41That role, the number four or five position is one of the most difficult in IPL.
01:47And he's always normally coming in on the back of that aggressive style.
01:53But we know that Nitesh, when he's at his best, gives himself a chance,
01:56builds in innings and then can capitalise at the end against pace and spin.
01:58So I think he's just one of those seasons that's a little bit of a learning for him.
02:02But he's too good a player not to bounce back.