Preview : M52 - SRH vs RCB
First things first, Kevin Pietersen will not be joining the Sunrisers Hyderabad. There was a lot of buzz around Pietersen’s participation in the Pepsi IPL 2015, but Sunrisers coach Tom Moody confirmed that Pietersen would not be joining the team this year. Throwing light on the issue, Moody said, “He was supposed to arrive tomorrow (Friday) evening.
But unfortunately he pulled up a little sore. He wasn’t really concerned about it but he pulled up a little sore after his triple hundred. He had a precautionary scan done, which he didn’t have any great concern about, but as it turned out, there was a little bit of concern.
The report came back that he has got an inflamed Achilles tendon which is an injury that he had a couple of years ago which has flared up. Unfortunately for both parties, for KP and Sunrisers, he won’t be featuring this year.” As the tournament heads towards its fag end, the contention for the Playoff spots is getting intense with each passing game.
And, there is a lot at stake when the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore face off here at Hyderabad on Friday. When asked if the nervy nature of the points table had any effect on the players, Moody said, “I think players are pretty well conditioned to cope up with the pressure of the IPL. Every edition of the IPL has been always tense during the closing stages and the last couple of games,” he said.
“Even last year, there were a number of teams that could have found themselves in the top four. It is really up to me and the rest of the support staff to make sure that we concentrate on the very next game and not look too far beyond that or look at other results. We have got two games left at home and we want to win the two games that we are playing here,” elaborated Moody.
The Sunrisers are coming into the game with three wins on the trot and strong wins at that. Obviously the energy levels are high for the men in orange and the side is eagerly looking forward to the challenge ahead. Moody banked on past success for a good show against their next opponents.
“RCB are a strong side particularly since they have made the adjustment to their batting order. But as we saw last night, they, like anyone can fall short of personal totals or team totals that need to be chased down. We have played well against RCB at home in the past and we intend to do the same tomorrow night.
” RCB have risen in the points table after a slow start to the tournament. The addition of Mitchell Starc to the bowling lineup has worked wonders and at the same time the big three of the batting have done really well to post and chase down huge scores. As Warner earlier mentioned (please add Warner interview hyperlink), they would have to be at their best to counter the likes of AB de Villiers and company.
One man who can put the brakes on the intense batting battery would be Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has been Sunrisers’ go-to man, be it the death or at the start of the innings. Moody has some special words for young Bhuvi. “He is a quality bowler.
To have a bowler who is as effective with the new ball as at the end of the innings is a great asset to any side. He has the wicket taking ability. With the new ball he can swing the ball both ways.
His discipline at the death overs has been second to none. He is up there with some of the best death bowlers that have been playing this year. He has got his yorkers in and the use of and the timing of his slower ball has been very impressive.
We are very lucky to have him.” Moody was also particularly confident about the side’s batting makeup. He was of the view that all batsmen have taken the collective responsibility of scoring runs and was pretty happy the way they had made meaningful contributions in the tournament so far.
“We feel that, for all the talk in the early parts of the tournament about Sunrisers having lack of depth in the batting, I think we have shown over the last five games that it is not a one man show and there are other players who make a contribution. Moises Henriques has made a match-winning contribution and so has Eoin Morgan. We have got other players who have come in and made contributions at the back end.
Ashish Reddy when he was playing made a quick 20 in good style, KL Rahul the other night got a few runs to help top up our total. Everyone plays a role. Yes, we have got a couple of star players who are in form.
Warner has got the Orange Cap, which is great. I am sure he will want to keep the Orange Cap.”.
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