Data Shorts: Ishan Kishan's recurring struggles against the moving ball

The Sunrisers Hyderabad boasted of a formidable batting outfit ahead of the IPL auctions in November last year, and that was further bolstered with Ishan Kishan's addition at the top, making for a fiery top-five on paper. Three left-handers at the top? Kishan batting out of position? Would it augur well for the 2024 runners-up? All those questions were seemingly put to rest in a daunting 286/6 in their season opener against the Rajasthan Royals, the left-hander himself setting it up with a blazing 106*.

However, three single-digit scores have followed thereafter, and with Abhishek Sharma too, yet to create an impact, it has further magnified SRH's over-reliance on their top-order. To put things into perspective, SRH's top-three average 48 and strike at 207.30 in wins since IPL 2024; the corresponding numbers in defeats are 14.46 and 131.51 respectively.

As for Kishan, a recurring theme in his mode of dismissals has been playing away from his body to the balls swinging or seaming away. He might've middled the one that swung away from good length and was undone by a spectacular catch by Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday, but that's been a ploy used successfully against him in the past. He smashed 79 off 33 against pace during his 106* against RR, but there's a catch. There were 24 deliveries with no movement, against which he scored 54; while the other nine were slower ones that fetched him 25. The nine balls he faced in the powerplay were all against spin, and 20 runs off those were good enough to get him going. Hence, he was helped by the fact that there was no movement for pacers in the air or off the pitch by the time he came out to bat. The true bounce of the Hyderabad surface allowed him to unleash his stroke-play.

Ishan Kishan vs pace in Overs 1-6 in the IPL

Kishan has been dismissed five times to the ball seaming or swinging away in the IPL since 2024, the most for anyone. He's scored 29 off 32 off them, with all dismissals coming to balls pitched on a good length. In T20Is, he has scored 26 off 48 off such deliveries, while being dismissed four times with a false-shot percentage of 52.

It's a line of attack that can work well against the dynamic duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma too, provided there's enough help for seamers with the new ball. Both were dismissed to the balls moving away in last year's final against Kolkata Knight Riders, and Vaibhav Arora did a repeat to Head on Thursday. Head, in fact, has been dismissed five times to such deliveries in T20s since 2024 (three within the first two overs of an innings), the other notable dismissal coming against Naveen-ul-Haq in Afghanistan's famous win at St. Vincent, as was the case at Wankhede a year earlier.

With all three being left-handers, there's a lesser chance for bowlers to err in lines, but it's still a tough plan to execute against the trio that has collectively struck at 182.58 in four matches so far.