IPL 2021: ‘If fit, Kane Williamson Would’ve Played,’ Says SRH Coach Trevor Bayliss

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) began their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign with a 10-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday night at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai. The SunRisers’ famed pace attack were taken to task by KKR’s Nitish Rana (80 offs 56 balls) and Rahul Tripathi (53 off 29) that helped them post 187/6 in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, SRH got off to a nightmarish start but fifties from Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow inched them closer. It was however, not enough to get them over the line. With a close finish, SRH’s decision to leave New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson out has baffled many.

However, SRH head coach Trevor Bayliss revealed that Williamson did not play in team’s season opener against KKR because the team management thought of giving the Kiwi superstar ‘extra time’ to gain match fitness.

Speaking in a virtual press conference after Sunday night’s game Bayliss said, “we just felt that Kane Williamson needed a little bit of extra time to get match fit and a little bit more time in the nets.” Confident that Kane would be a crucial part of the squad during the tournament, Bayliss also remarked that had Williamson played, he would have been in the side in place of Bairstow, who hit a fifty at number four vs KKR.

“He would have played in place of Jonny Bairstow obviously if that had occurred.” He went to add that the team isn’t too “perturbed about” it, given Bairstow’s recent form in the white-ball leg of series against India. “Kane will obviously come into calculations as the tournament unfolds,” he further added.

The Australian also touched upon the opener Wriddhiman Saha, who made an impact last year, but was dismissed cheaply (7) on Sunday night. “At the moment we wanted to reward the guy who finished the tournament last year,” Bayliss said. Saha had a good stint as an opener last year when SRH rested Bairstow to accommodate Jason Holder in the playing XI after facing a mid-tournament slump. The change worked as SRH reached the playoffs, but they lost to Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2.

“We got off to a slow start last year but came back well to reach the playoffs. And someone like Saha opening and batting so well in that tournament we felt we should reward the guys who finished it so well for us,” he added.

The coach however, made it clear that Bairstow is one of their top options for the opening slot. Among other changes, SRH had promoted Vijay Shankar ahead of Abdul Samad when the team required 57 off six overs. The move backfired as Shankar could manage just 11 off seven balls. While Samad, who came after, went on to hit Pat Cummins for two sixes, but it was all too late.

SRH now face Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on Wednesday.

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