IPL 2018: Tom Moody credits depth in bowling for Sunrisers Hyderabad’s success
Sunrisers Hyderabad have depth and variety in their bowling line-up and this is the key factor for their consistent run in IPL 2018, says coach Tom Moody ahead of the clash against Rajasthan Royals.
When Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ruled out of the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s game against Mumbai Indians, Kane Williamson’s side was in a spot of bother. However, they raised their game and put in two magnificent performances in defending 118 and 132 against MI and Kings XI Punjab. (IPL 2018 FULL COVERAGE)
Ahead of their match against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody said the bowling depth of the side was key to their success.
“We’ve got excellent personnel who have experience in IPL cricket. We’ve got bowlers who have diverse level of skill. We were aware during the auction process that we wanted to make sure our depth in quality of Indian pace attack is a strong one. It’s not a great surprise to me that they have delivered but it’s great that when given a chance, they have stepped up and delivered,” Moody said in the pre-match press conference.
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In the absence of Bhuvneshwar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul and Basil Thampi have risen to the occasion, adding to the guile of Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan. Kaul picked up 3/23 in the game against Mumbai Indians while Basil Thampi got four wickets in two games at a combined economy rate of under four.
Not worried about batting
In stark contrast to the brilliant performance of the bowlers, the batting has struggled slightly with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson and the middle order displaying inconsistency.
“We do believe we can improve in our batting. We don’t think we need to make massive changes . In a tournament like this, you need to show faith in who you believe are your key players. At the end of the day, it is only a small improvement we need in our batting. We have played on some difficult wickets and you not only have to applaud the bowlers but you need to sympathise with the batters who try to express themselves in a format like T20 on challenging wickets,” Moody said.
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Kane ahead of the game
With Sunrisers Hyderabad second in the points table despite the absence of key players in both bowling and batting, Moody credited Williamson’s astute captaincy for the good run.
“Tactically, he’s ahead of the game, he’s a very thoughtful person. From my perspective as a coach, it’s been terrific to work alongside him because it enables us to dissect and prepare for every given match. This is no surprise to me that he has stepped up and filled the large void David Warner left,” Moody said.