The Untold Story: Behind Shahbaz Ahmed’s Introduction as an Impact Player

The impact substitute, Shahbaz Ahmed, was introduced by head coach Daniel Vettori, according to Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins. This decision proved to be the game-changing moment of Qualifier 2.
 
The Sunrisers have mostly depended on their pace bowling setup to bring them across the finish line in the current Indian Premier League (IPL). However, Cummins surprised everyone on Chepauk by introducing the spin team of Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma.
 
In the middle overs, Shahbaz took three wickets while bowling and added eighteen runs at bat. The left-arm spinner, in addition to Abhishek Sharma, made sure that the Qualifier 1 teams, SRH and Kolkata Knight Riders, would face off again in the IPL final.
 
After the game, Cummins commented on Shahbaz’s impact substitution, saying that it was Vettori’s decision because he liked his left-arm orthodoxy and wanted as many as possible. Against Rajasthan, Abhishek’s typical destructive performance at the bat was lacking. On the last ball of the first over, he was dismissed after striking thirteen.
 
He compensated for his actions with the ball and picked up the wickets of captains Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, who were both in fine form.
 
Abhishek surprised everyone by bowling superbly and winning the match with two bowlers in the middle overs. They tried to stick one out of him. We would not undervalue the experience in this group; having Bhuvi, Nattu, and Unadkat makes my work easy. We understood that our strength was our batting,” Cummins continued.
 
Despite conceding 47 runs at an economy of 5.87 during their eight-over performance, the left-arm spin combination claimed five wickets.