Rajasthan Royals (RR) thrashed SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 61 runs at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday. Put in to bat, RR posted 210/6 before restricting SRH to 149/7. Former India opener Wasim Jaffer was not best pleased with SRH's performance and criticised Kane Williamson's captaincy, pointing out that he wasn't on the ball tactically. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, he noted a few bowling changes and adjustments to their batting lineup that could have helped the team perform better in their opening match.
"If we talk about how SRH bowled at the start, they would be very disappointed. They either bowled short and wide or pitched it too full. They did not make good use of the conditions," Jaffer said.
"Kane Williamson could have also maybe used Washington Sundar in the Powerplay and bowled Umran Malik after it. It was the first game so maybe they were trying to figure things out, but they quite far behind in the game," he added.
"Even when it came to their batting, they fell behind. They were 14/3 after the Powerplay. Maybe Aiden Markram could have come a little higher and they could have protected Nicholas Pooran a little. Washington Sundar could have come a little higher up in the order. So tactically, I think Kane Williamson was a bit behind," Jaffer stated.
He said that RR pacers Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna, who took two wickets each in the match, showed how to bowl on the pitch at the MCA Stadium.
"Prasidh Krishna and Trent Boult showed how to bowl on pitches like this, which SRH didn't do. You have to bowl at three-quarters length, not give too much room. These are things that SRH should have done more consistently. Because it's not like the pitch did not give any assistance to the bowlers," he said.