Jason Holder joined the Hyderabad team in UAE as a replacement for Mitchell Marsh, who injured his ankle in the first match of their Indian T20 League campaign itself. He had a pretty good all-round outing in the Caribbean T20 League prior to this and thus was roped in by Hyderabad considering his current form.
However, they didn't consider him good enough to be a first-team overseas player even after he joined the team. He kept warming the bench until an injury to Kane Williamson cleared his way into the team. Holder was merely filling in for Williamson's absence but the impact he made on their fortunes after his entry into the XI cemented his place in the side.
Hyderabad has gone on to win three out of their last four matches and Holder has played in all of them. Not only has he played but he made match-winning contributions with both bat and ball. He has taken eight wickets thus far at an excellent average of 16.62 and also played a match-winning cameo with the bat.
Notable performances so far
3/33 vs Rajasthan | Hyderabad won by 8 wickets
2/27 vs Punjab | Hyderabad won by 12 runs
2/27 & 26* (10) vs Bangalore | Hyderabad won by 5 wickets
Major skill on display: Wicket-taking ability and lower-order power hitting
Hyderabad have used Holder pretty uniformly as a bowler across all phases. He is mainly seen as a new-ball bowler but he has done an even better job in the middle and death overs this season. The Barbadian has not only picked up wickets but maintained a decent overall economy rate of 8.31 as well. As far as his batting goes, he has batted in only two out of his four matches so far and played a match-winning hand of 26* off just 10 deliveries on one of those occasions as well. It was a very timely effort as that not only helped Hyderabad register an important win but also pushed their NRR further upwards.
Major impact point
Best overall bowling strike-rate and third-best average
Among bowlers who have bowled at least 10 overs in this Indian T20 League season, Jason Holder's strike-rate of 12 balls per wicket is the best. He has an average of 16.62 which is the second-best once again. Only Jasprit Bumrah (15.74) and Rashid Khan (14.67) have better a bowling average than Holder. Of his total of eight wickets this season, six have come in the death overs (17-20) and that too at a strike-rate and average of 4.0 and 5.67 respectively. These figures are once again the best among bowlers who have delivered a minimum of 20 balls in this phase.
Wall of Praise
Brilliant from Jason Holder. So #MI will definitely finish at No 1, either #DC or #RCB will go through with 16 and two teams will qualify with 14 points. Wide open. What a climax to the #Dream11IPL.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 31, 2020
Feature image courtesy: Twitter.com / @ICC
