One must have a clear plan while bowling to Dhoni: Zaheer Khan
M48: SRH vs KXIP – Man of the Match – David Warner 4:22 7,895 Views Each time David Warner walks out with a bat in his hand going through his regular routine of walking to the crease loosening up and swinging his bat with one hand in a circular motion, you can sense purpose. It is almost like a time bomb ticking vigourously waiting to explode and create mayhem on the 22 yards. Monday night at Hyderabad was one such night when Warner not just exploded but blew away the Kings XI Punjab bowlers to all parts of the ground.
This, not before he played out the first over watchfully; the overs to follow were dealt with severity though. In the process he became the highest run-scorer of the tournament and the first one to get to 500 runs this year. Those numbers are a pointer of his dominance and consistency with the bat.
The Sunrisers are at the top four of the table and with wins in each passing game are making a statement that they belong. They are leaving no stone unturned to stay in the hunt for the playoffs. Much credit goes to Warner who has well and truly led by example and marched his troops with effectiveness.
As his side recorded a nervy 5-run victory over Kings XI Punjab, Warner spoke to iplt20.com on the way forward for Sunrisers, his batting and captaincy. Also, we couldn’t help but ask him about AB de Villiers especially after he tweeted his admiration for the South African last evening.
Got tense towards the end, but would you call it a near perfect win for you? Defending the target, the message to my bowlers was clear and that was early wickets. I did not want a repeat of the Rajasthan Royals game (SRH won by 7 runs after scoring 201). We have been so good at death bowling but it seems as though when we get close to dominating the opposition we finish off a lit bit slow.
We have to work on the execution of death bowling. When you have 60 odd runs to play with in 18 balls you should be winning these games with atleast 15 to 20 runs to spare. But the bowlers were fantastic tonight.
Credit has to go to Moises Henriques for the way he bowled. It was a great spell of bowling. Four overs for 16 runs and three wickets is a phenomenal effort on this pitch.
But some batsmen you don’t want to bowl to as a bowler is David Miller at the end. His striking of the ball is fantastic. You very much looked in the zone to get a century.
Dejected to miss out on a well deserved ton?It is a bit frustrating. I try to bat as deep as I could there. There was a little bit of an error in my mind thinking that I could try and scoop it.
It is just not my style of play and my game. That’s why I was frustrated. I should have just backed myself to hit straight.
I got a well executed yorker but it was my fault I got out the way I did because I was trying something that I shouldn’t have done. Leading run-scorer and consistent in the tournament, is captaincy one of the reasons behind it? Not really. I think I can play with the freedom that I do because me and Shikhar Dhawan have been getting off to a good start.
Even though we lose quick wickets we still back our ability. That is our job; our job is to score runs and if it comes off it comes off. If not you can’t rely on that specific group of the top order.
We all have to keep working together and at the moment the middle-order is coming off really well. They are playing fearless cricket and that is what we have asked for from them. Talking about the middle-order, there is always a talk of Sunrisers depending a lot on you and Shikhar Dhawan.
Do you reckon the middle-order is finally turning up?At the beginning of the tournament we spoke about not losing wickets in clumps. I was responsible for that as well. In Vizag we lost two or three wickets in a matter of six balls and I was one of those.
There was a time when Shikhar got out and then I got out the next over. I have asked every individual batsman to be confident. If a wicket falls we need to try and work together to get a 25-run partnership.
We have set ourselves these little goals and at the moment it is paying off. You are leading by example, leading run-scorer now; you seem to have hit a purple patch.You are only as good as your last innings.
I got to keep working hard and have a level head. I take each game as it comes. Next game I start afresh and I am batting on zero again whether we are starting or chasing.
I am still going to play the same way that I do. We know it is going to be another good pitch but we have to keep backing ourselves and keep believing. Next you face Royal Challengers Bangalore and then there is the AB factor.
Do you think you almost pulled off an innings similar to his tonight?(Smiles) I am not in the same category as AB de Villiers. He is a guy that comes out and gets himself in and then all of a sudden he just switches from slow motion to the extreme rocket or something like that. Whatever he is eating, we want some of that.
That’s the way he plays; it is fearless cricket. The thing is, he is able to do that because his top two are scoring the runs. It allows your middle order to play in when your top three are scoring runs.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore have someone like Mitchell Starc. Two overs upfront - minimal runs. Two overs at the end - minimal runs.
So basically you have four overs there where he is only going for a less than 20 at an economy rate of four to five. It backs up their bowling and again they can play fearless cricket. We have to be on top of our game to beat them next game.
Just to put you on a spot, if you had to pay to watch three players in international cricket, who would that be?I would pay to watch Mitchell Starc bowl, AB de Villiers bat and I would say David Miller if he is batting while chasing. They are three guys I would definitely pay to watch. .
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