On paper, the Hyderabad bowling attack looked tailor-made for T20. Through his career, Chaminda Vaas has nagged batsmen to their graves. Partnering him was RP Singh, one of India’s heroes at the World T20 and definitely the most-improved bowler in the country over the last season.

Vaas has been surprisingly ineffective, picking up four wickets in four games and going at more than eight an over. RP Singh has picked up a reasonable 12 wickets, but even he’s going at nearly eight-and-a-half. As the weeks have gone by though, he’s looked more and more likely to provide one match-winning spell. Hyderabad will be hoping it’s not too far away.

All-round failure

The biggest problem for them, though, has been the inability of their two top all-rounders — Scott Styris and Shahid Afridi — to come to the party. Styris has got 62 runs in five innings (including a top-score of 36 not out), while Afridi — on whom so much was riding after the departure of Symonds — has scored a ridiculous 47 in six. Add to that the failure of Herschelle Gibbs — a man who played a big part in chasing down 434 in a one-dayer not so long ago — and you get a fair idea of why this team of superstars is languishing in seventh spot.

But with the weight of expectations off their shoulders, they might still light up the next couple of weeks. Sehwag can only hope they don’t start tomorrow.