ChatteR Views:- Episode 1:- SRH Pre Season Review:- Pratyush

Welcome to the First Episode of this new Series 'ChatteR Views'. In this Episode, we will have the Pre Season Review of SRH. To discuss about SRH, We are joined by Pratyush Bhai (@ps26_11), a Cricket Enthusiast and big SRH Fan from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

RJVV:- First of all Welcome Pratyush Bhai, You are our first guest in the new series, ChatteR Views. Happy to have you here to talk about SRH. RJVV:- SRH as we know finished at 3rd Position in the Points Table and later got knocked out in Qualifier 2, So your thoughts on SRH's Performance in the last Season?

Pratyush:- As an SRH fan, 2020 ipl was like a sinusoidal wave. One moment up, another moment down. At one point, I've given up the hopes honestly that they can qualify for playoffs from there. But they went with momentum. Unfortunately, DC knocked us out & got beaten in finals. As a fan, I'm extremely proud of their performance. It was difficult as Bhuvi, Marsh, Shankar, Kane (few games) all got injured during the tournament. RJVV:- Same Thoughts, That was a brilliant comeback.

RJVV:- Now coming to the Auction, SRH retained 22 Players before the Auction, Leaving them with 10.75 Cr to fill 1 Overseas and 2 Indian slots to fill. So they understandably had one of the quietest Auction. The Players they bought were:- 🔸Mujeeb Ur Rahman 🔹Kedar Jadhav 🔹Jagadeesha Suchith So your thoughts on SRH's Auction Performance? Pratyush:- There was not much in auction for us as we retained many players. Honestly, I didn't like the move to retain Mitch Marsh, Goswami, Thampi etc & release Fabian Allen. I speculated that they might go for J.Suchith & Jadhav. As of now, it's clear that SRH is playing most matches in Chennai & Delhi so many people can say now that Mujeeb buy was a great move. But I still believe they should've gone for a 145+ kmph bowler. RJVV:- Yep, Releasing Allen was a Surprising move. RJVV:- As we have come to know now that Mitchell Marsh has pulled out of the Season and Jason Roy has been brought in to the squad as his replacement. How do you see the move? Pratyush:- Not a great move to be honest. Assuming Warner & Kane both are fit, it will create more confusion. We already have a dilemma where we have to bench either Kane or Bairstow to play Nabi (in Chennai & Delhi) along with Rashid. RJVV:- Yep I also feel the same way about the Overseas Dilemma. RJVV:- So Who would you rather prefer between Bairstow and Williamson in the Team?

Pratyush:- Kane in middle is irreplaceable as we all have seen that he has batted in the middle brilliantly. SRH do have an alternative for Bairstow (talking about Saha) but we don't have an alternate to Kane RJVV:- Yep, Middle Order has been the Concerning factor for SRH, And Kane being there gives a lot of assurance. Pratyush:- Exactly, Also if Warner gets injured...KW will lead, He's part of the leadership group. RJVV:- Yep, An Interesting idea that has been discussed is making Bairstow bat in the Middle Order (Which in turn allows to drop Williamson), Like he does for England, and pairing Warner with someone else. Do you find merit in that? Pratyush:- No, in middle order we have seen Bairstow struggling a bit during the Indian series. Best to play him as an opener, If he doesn't bat well there in 2-3 games then replace him with Saha at top & get Nabi in middle. RJVV:- Yep, Better Strategy RJVV:- Thoughts on Kedhar Jadhav's buy, Do you think he will be roped into the XI? Pratyush:- Nope. I don't see him getting games until quite a few players miss out. That would be highly unlikely. RJVV:- OK RJVV:- Expectations from the Youngsters this Season? Pratyush:- Want Abhishek Sharma, Samad to play all games & prove their mettle. In case Nadeem fails to impress, Suchith can chip in., We do have lot of youngsters including Virat Singh, Garg etc too on bench RJVV:- Yep, Do you think Garg will be in XI like last Season or will he be benched? Pratyush:- He played all 14 games in 2020. Bayliss trusts him a lot. He's a good young dynamic player & great fielder too. Just that he's very young & slow to bat in the middle order in a premium tournament like ipl. RJVV:- Yes RJVV:- I personally would have liked SRH to use the Fire Power of Abdul Samad a lot more, felt he was underutilized. Pratyush:- His 1st season...this time he will get to play more RJVV:- Yes, Hopefully. RJVV:- Lot of Talk about the Batting, Let's Switch to Bowling then RJVV:- Bhuvi Spearheading the attack obviously with Nattu and Rashid sure starters, Thoughts on who should be the others accompanying them? Pratyush:- Nadeem & Sandy. Nadeem as we're playing 5 games in Chennai & 4 in Delhi. Use Sandy in PP as he's not good at death so better use his 4 before the 16th over. Keep bhuvi for tough overs. RJVV:- Yes, Good Bowling Lineup, Sandy is a consistent performer, Bhuvi and Nattu at the death, The Magician from Afghanistan and Shahbaz Nadeem to complete it. Also, Abhishek Sharma etc can get in few overs if required. Pratyush:- Yeah Abhishek & Samad can chip in as the 6th option if any bowler is having an off day. RJVV:- So Your Preferred Playing XI? Pratyush:- My Playing XI:- D Warner✈️

J Bairstow✈️ M Pandey K Williamson✈️ Abhishek Sharma A Samad Rashid Khan✈️ B Kumar S Nadeem Sandeep Sharma T Natarajan RJVV:- Tough question to ask to a fan, Still, Your Expectations from SRH this Season? Pratyush:- We will definitely make it to the playoffs. If we can beat MI, title is ours. Btw we have played 16 games vs MI & we won 8 while MI won 8.

RJVV:- Yes, Looking good, One of the Teams I also like outside of CSK, Best of Luck to SRH. Great to see your Confidence in the Team. RJVV:- Thank You Pratyush Bhai again for joining me for such a long session, Was great to talk to you. Pratyush:- It's my pleasure, Raju.

RJVV:- So that Concludes our First Episode of ChatteR Views, Hope all of you enjoyed reading it. We have tried to cover everything as possible. Pre Season Reviews of other Teams will be posted soon.

Follow Pratyush on Twitter:- @ps26_11

Thanks to Sanjay Bhai for allowing to embed his Tweets, Follow Sanjay on Twitter:- @BujjukBujjuk

Follow Me on Twitter:- @RJVV55