Kolkata, April 1 Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori has downplayed Kolkata Knight Riders' poor start with the ball, saying experienced spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy remain a major threat, and the "battle" against them will be crucial in their IPL match here on Thursday.
Chakravarthy has lost his rhythm since he was taken to task by South Africa in the T20 World Cup in February, as he looked ineffective in a wicketless spell against Mumbai Indians.
Narine has also not found his usual effectiveness, as the duo were bowled out at Wankhede, with KKR failing to defend 220 in their IPL opening game.
With KKR also facing a thin pace attack – Harshit Rana and Akash Deep ruled out, and Matheesha Pathirana still awaiting fitness clearance – much will again depend on their spin pair when they return home.
"In terms of KKR's spin bowlers, I think there's immense respect for those two and what they've done for the franchise, and for their country. So, we will certainly not take them lightly, even if they didn't have their best day in the last game," Vettori said in the pre-match media interaction.
"They've proven themselves time and again, particularly at this venue, so the battle against them, those two tomorrow, will be one of the key aspects of the game."
Same pitch as NZ-SA semi-final
=
The match will be played on the same surface where New Zealand thrashed South Africa by nine wickets, chasing 170 in just 12.5 overs en route to the final in the T20 World Cup last month.
While KKR would ideally want assistance from their spinners, Vettori feels the pitch may not offer much turn, instead it could aid strokeplay.
"Maybe 'hold' is a better description than 'spin'," he said, expressing surprise at the grass cover.
"It's obviously got a lot of grass on it, more than we anticipated, but I think it's the same surface they used for the semi-final, South Africa-New Zealand, and that was a fantastic wicket.
"So, generally over the last few years, the surfaces here have been amazing, and obviously the size of the ground and the outfield means it's generally high-scoring. So, we probably could have another run-fest on our hands for both teams.
"I think it's a good surface. There's a little bit of grass on it. We've seen over the last few years at Eden Gardens that there hasn't been a huge amount of spin, and the scores have been high, and that's due to the size of the ground and how quick the outfield is, so I mean, we don't think so, but we can always be surprised, and I think both teams will be prepared for that scenario."
Ishan loves leadership
=
Vettori also backed stand-in captain Ishan Kishan, who is leading the side in Pat Cummins' absence due to injury.
Kishan impressed with a captain's knock of 80 off 38 balls in their opening match.
"We see Ishan, as you saw by his performance in the first game, he loves leadership. I think it can have a real positive effect on his batting and keeping, and as he gets to understand the group and the dynamics, he's going to put his mark on it, and I have no doubt that he'll be a very effective leader for us," he said.
Cummins, though with the squad, is expected to be available only in the latter half of the season, and Vettori said it was a big loss.
"Yeah, I mean, Pat's proven himself for a long period of time as one of the best captains in the world, and so he's obviously a loss. Most of it's due with his bowling, in terms of how effective that can be for us, and understanding conditions, and then he's a very experienced captain.
"We're fortunate enough that he's been around the group, and he's been able to have conversations with Ishan around his style and how he wants to go about it, and Ishan's been highly successful in his captaincy career so far," he said.
"So, whilst it can be slightly different, we don't look at it as a negative at all."
Carse unlikely
=
SRH is also missing England all-rounder Brydon Carse, who is recovering from a hand injury.
"Carse is probably unlikely for tomorrow; he hasn't quite recovered from his hand injury, but we will give it up until the last minute to make a decision around that."