Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim has showered praise on CSK’s left-arm orthodox spinner Akeal Hosein after the franchise registered a 32-run win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Tuesday.
Karim said the addition of the West Indies spinner has made CSK’s bowling attack more competitive. Hosein returned with impressive figures of 1-26 in his quota of four overs when CSK were defending 193.
The left-arm orthodox spinner accounted for Angkrish Raghuvanshi in his fine spell. Furthermore, Noor Ahmad returned with match-winning figures of 3-21 in his four overs to get back into form.
Saba Karim said on ESPN Cricinfo, “The spin combination worked quite well for them. They were looking at Noor Ahmad as an attacking option and he provided that. Good to see Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad bowling in tandem and picking up wickets. Everybody thought Akeal Hosein would come on to bowl in the powerplay. For him to come and bowl in the middle overs and still remain so effective was fascinating to watch.”
“Noor Ahmad and the addition of Akeal Hosein has helped the CSK side become far more competitive. We have seen that in the last two games. Initially, without Akeal Hosein, they were one attacking bowler short,” Karim went on to add.
On the other hand, former Australian captain Aaron Finch expressed his surprise that Sarfaraz Khan batted at number five ahead of Shivam Dube for CSK.
He said, “It was getting towards the part of the innings when you really want to accelerate. Dube’s numbers against spin are extraordinary compared to pace. I found it really strange at Sarfaraz went in at No. 5. Teams actually get worried that one of their finishers will get out too early, so inevitably they hold them back too long.”
Chennai Super Kings will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at Hyderabad on Saturday.
