IPL 2018 | We’ve got bowlers who have diverse level of skill, says SRH coach Tom Moody

Ever since Sunrisers Hyderabad lifted their maiden Indian Premier League trophy back in 2016, they have always put in some good displays with ball and bat on the cricket field. But many opined that this season would be different due to the loss of their talismanic skipper, David Warner. But the team look to be on track to make it to the play-off, courtesy of a strong bowling unit and a reliable skipper in the form of Kane Williamson.

SRH chief coach, Tom Moody lavished praise on his bowlers who managed to defend low totals of 118 and 132 against Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in their last two outings. Moody added that the variety in the bowling arsenal was key to the team’s overall performance on the pitch.

“We’ve got excellent personnel who have experience in IPL cricket. We’ve got bowlers who have a 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.

In the absence of Bhuvneshwar and Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul and Basil Thampi stepped up their game and helped the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan. While Kaul picked up 3/23 in the game against Mumbai Indians, Basil Thampi got four wickets in two games at a combined economy rate of under four.

Despite strong performances with the ball, the batting department has looked a bit off with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Manish Pandey showing some signs of inconsistency. But Moody said that it’s not something he would worry about too much.

“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.