West Indian legend and Sunrisers head coach on the men who stood out amidst a forgettable IPL-16 campaign
Brian Lara
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had a forgettable IPL-16 as they managed only four wins from their 14 league games and ended the season being at the bottom in points table.
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SRH’s head coach and former West Indies captain Brian Lara reckoned that his team’s failure in dishing out consistent performances caused SRH's downfall. However, the legendary Caribbean batsman praised his two pacers—Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan, who claimed 16 and 10 wickets respectively in the ongoing IPL.
“We were see-sawing between good bowling, sometimes bad batting and sometimes when we batted well, we didn’t have a good day in the field. In this sort of tournament, all 10 teams are very very competitive.
“We can look back and say about four-five games that we really could have won and we could have been sitting in a different position today. Consistency is the key.
The likes of Bhuvneshwar and Natarajan, they are soldiers, they have been doing it day in and day out. But as a team, we need to be consistent.” Lara said during a post-match press conference on Sunday night, when asked about what went wrong with his team in IPL-16.
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On Sunday, the Aiden Markram-led outfit gave Mumbai Indians (MI) a tough fight scoring 200-5. However, Cameron Green’s 47-ball unbeaten 100 helped MI chase the target with 12 balls to spare and win the key game by eight wickets. Lara appeared more relieved with SRH opening pair comprising Mayank Agarwal (46-ball 83) and Vivrant Sharma (47-ball 69) who gave his team a strong start by stitching a 140-run stand. Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, 19, played just a couple of games for SRH without taking a wicket, but Lara rated him very high. On Sunday, Reddy conceded 35 runs in his three overs.
“Finally, we got a brilliant opening partnership that must be commended. We have got to take all the positives, not just from today but throughout the season. The SRH outfit is a very young and potentially a very good outfit. I must single out Nitish Reddy. You haven’t seen him bat yet but I am sure the young man has a very, very bright future,” Lara remarked.
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