IPL 2019 | Time for Indian players to make a statement, says VVS Laxman

Sunrisers Hyderabad lost to Chennai Super Kings in what was the last game for Jonny Bairstow this season. However, every SRH fan was pleasantly surprised at the fact that Manish Pandey struck gold and scored a fluent 83 to take the team to a comfortable total of 175. Laxman was all praise for the Karnataka middle-order batsman and stated that he is regaining his mojo at the most opportune time.

"I think Manish striking form at the right moment augurs well because this is the time we will start losing some of our internationals to World Cup camps. This is a glorious opportunity for our experienced Indian players to make their presence felt," Laxman wrote in his column for ToI.

However, Laxman also rued the fact the inability to break the partnerships when the chance beckoned was one of the reasons for their loss. He couldn’t be farther from the truth as Shane Watson and Suresh Raina gave CSK a blistering start while the duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal made sure that SRH started on the wrong foot.

"Tuesday night's defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings with one ball to spare was the second time this season that Sunrisers Hyderabad were on the wrong side of the result in a tight finish. We had lost to Kings XI Punjab, also with one ball to spare. One of the reasons for this is that we haven't been able to break threatening partnerships at the opportune time. If it was KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal who thwarted us in Mohali, then it was the turn of Shane Watson and Suresh Raina to do likewise in Chennai."