22 April,2016 08:30 AM IST | | Harit N Joshi
Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody talks to mid-day about Dhawan regaining his lost form and why he does not want skipper David Warner to curb his natural instincts
Shikhar Dhawan and (inset) Tom Moody
Sunrisers Hyderabad opened their win in the Indian Premier League-9 against Mumbai Indians on Monday. The convincing manner in which SRH won that match certainly got their coach Tom Moody excited. In a chat with mid-day on Wednesday, the former Australian cricketer wants skipper David Warner to continue his aggressive play and was confident of Shikhar Dhawan's return to form.
Excerpts:
On SRH's performance so far
It was an important win for us against Mumbai Indians. It was important to play well in that particular match after the way we played in the first two games. Hopefully, we can carry forward that momentum.
Tom Moody
On David Warner's performance
It is no surprise that he is continuing his superb form into the IPL. He is a dangerous player upfront against any opponent. We don't talk about anything else apart from batting and what the team requires because at the end of the day, he has to go by his instincts. If you saw the last match (vs Mumbai Indians), he hit Mitchell McClenaghan for a six over cover. I don't think he is curbing his natural instincts. His natural instinct is to put the bowler under pressure and get the team to a good start. It is important he plays his natural game and goes by his instincts, which is to control the game.
On Warner as Australia's future captain
Well, he is already in the leadership role as vice-captain to Steven Smith. The Australian selectors have also recognised that he has a good strategic mind and reads the game well.
On southpaw Shikhar Dhawan
He didn't do well in the first three games and has come from a tournament where he had a bit of a lean patch in the Indian side. He is keen to change that form around and recapture his best form. Every batsman goes through that and you have to continue working hard and get into a positive frame of mind. He has to think that a big innings is just around the corner. From Shikhar's point of view, I don't think that is too far away. When he is in his best form, he is always looking to score runs. A player like Shikhar is looking to be positive and add more scoring options.
Shikhar Dhawan
On Ashish Nehra's international comeback
He has been phenomenal. He has been a dominant force to Chennai Super Kings and it was no surprise that he took that form when he got re-selected into the Indian team. He is a quality performer and understands his game well. He is very dedicated and professional in the way he prepares.
On the difference between coaching a national team and a franchise side
They are completely different. In franchise cricket, you have the team for six weeks and you are developing a winning culture. When you are coaching a national or even a domestic team , you are not just working on creating a winning culture, you are also working on developing players, their technique which will be resilient to play all the three forms of cricket.
