SRH under coach Tom Moody has seen patchy batting effort from the side yet lead the table. (Source: AP)
Sunrisers Hyderabad are currently at the top of Indian Premier League points table. Having mastered the art of defending low totals in a T20 match and winning eight out of their 10 encounters, the orange army has one foot in the playoffs of IPL 2018. While the bowling unit continues to impress one game at a time, the performance of the batsmen (apart from Kane Williamson) has raised a few eyebrows, especially their inability to convert starts into big scores. However, a day before facing Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla, SRH’s head coach Tom Moody shared his thoughts and asserted that his batsmen have done quite a good job despite playing on a tough Hyderabad wicket and being denied the luxury of playing expansive shots at will.
“With regards to batting, our last five games have been on challenging wickets. Our batsmen haven’t had the pleasure of stand and deliver like for example in Delhi, Kolkata and Pune. Our wickets haven’t been of that nature, they have been hard wickets to bat on. So yes, bowlers have bowled well on surfaces that have enabled them to adapt and make it challenging for opposition batsmen. But we have also had to accept that our batsman aren’t on playing on roads. They are playing on difficult tracks. So an ugly 20 or 30 is a valuable contribution to the team’s success,” Moody said.
“So I am not down on our batsmen at all I think they have done a good enough job to get us through some challenging games. There is no doubt we can get better,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of his batsmen, the 52-year-old Australian also said,”We would welcome playing on surfaces where we can boast a few shots and play a few sixes over cover and flicks over square-leg. Hyderabad hasn’t been a surface where we can do that. People who have visited Hyderabad have had the exact same problem as our batsmen.”
Kane Williamson’s captaincy is another reason for SRH’s continued success in season 11. Crediting his ability to read the game Moody said,” Williamson is a very astute captain. He is not that old in international cricket. He has a wise head and can manage pressure situations very well. To have someone like him to take the responsibility is terrific. We have formed a strong partnership which is helpful in match situations.”
Williamson’s calm and collective persona has also rubbed off pretty well on his teammates. But of late the Kiwi skipper has been quite expressive on the field. “I think that is because of the pace and emotions of the game. A Test match is more of the hard grind while T20 is a fast and furious contest. So even the most subdued characters get emotionally connected to it. But I don’t think he has been over the top, he just cares,” he signed off by saying.