HYDERABAD: After two losses in as many games, Sunrisers Hyderabad were staring down the barrel but the manner in which they came out firing on Sunday night has not only warmed the hearts of the fans but also brought a great deal of comfort to skipper Aiden Markram.
The South African was all praise for his ‘great bunch of guys’ and said it all boiled down to proper execution of plans. “It’s quite hard to put my finger on it right now but ultimately it comes down to execution. Both teams had their plans, we too had done our homework. In the previous games too, these plans were there but, unfortunately, execution let us down a bit but tonight we were on it especially from the bowling point of view. We started really well with the new ball and took wickets in the powerplay and were able to put pressure on them. It was a great execution of plans with the new ball and then the ability to keep pressure on them after that was wonderful. Then we had a great spell of spin by Mayank Markande,” Markram said at a post match briefing.
“The mood in the camp will be slightly better off after the win but it’s a great bunch of guys and we got a really good management set-up with legends of the game and the guys are trying to tap into their wisdom as much as they can. The two losses were not nice for us, and it did get us a little bit down but it’s just the start of the competition and it’s nice for the guys to respond with such a great performance tonight,” he said.
Asked if the three changes made the difference in the match, he said: “I am not too sure but as a team tonight we were incredibly happy with our performance, and everyone chipped in when needed and were able to execute their roles. In terms of the changes, I am not sure about it, but we will have a recap in the new week and see where we are as a team and see what conditions lie ahead for us.”
Markram said the boys were happy to get a better surface for the game. “On the pitch, I think it was not completely flat but much better than the one we had in Lucknow. It was a tough pitch there for us and I think it was nice to get on a pitch like this tonight. Personally, I felt the pitch had something in it for everyone – a little bit of spin, the pacers could bowl their cutters and if the batters applied themselves like Shikhar (Dhawan) and Rahul (Tripathi) did, they reaped the rewards. So, happy with this kind of wicket and I don’t think it was a 140-run wicket but slightly more. Hence, it is a testament to how we started with the ball,” he said.
The skipper was all praise for Rahul with whom he shared an unbeaten 100-run partnership for the third wicket. “It was just down to Rahul being Rahul, he played an incredible knock for us. He played an incredible knock today. I did speak to him and he told me that he was struggling to rotate strike initially but once he got a feel of the pitch, he put the bowlers under pressure like he always does. Really happy for him. He takes a lot of pressure off the batting unit and his form is exciting for us as a team,” he said.
On pushing Harry Brook up the order, he said: “In terms of Harry, he has been in great form pretty much wherever he has played in the last 12-18 months. It's about him freeing himself in the powerplay, hitting cricket shots like he does. He doesn't play a high-risk brand of cricket; he generally just plays normal cricket shots hard and in the gap. So, we thought that if he could do that in powerplay, we could maximise the powerplay but without taking too many risks. That was the thinking behind the move."
Asked about not playing the in-form Abdul Samad in the XI, he said: “Samad would have been an impact player had we needed him at No.6 or 7 in place of one of the bowlers. He is in great form and we will definitely look to use him as much as we can. He was not on the field as we were bowling but he could have swapped for a bowler when we batted.”
On Abhishek Sharma getting only one game, Markram said: “Abhishek is an important player for us, but he is coming back from an injury and he needs a bit more time to sharpen up. But he is a very key player for us and so coming forward we would like to use him well as he is a quality player as we have seen him in the previous years. He definitely gives us a great balance as a left-right combination at the top.”
