IPL 2020: 'Have confidence in youngsters,' says SRH mentor VVS Laxman

Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman said that the team's management has confidence in SRH's youngsters and is willing to give them time to settle.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, the former Indian batsman said that middle-order batsmen haven’t had enough opportunities to showcase their talent in IPL 2020.

“I know there's too much talk about the middle order. But to be fair, none of the middle-order batsmen got an opportunity in the last two games [against the Capitals and the Kolkata Knight Riders]. That's a talking point as far as the Sunrisers' franchise is concerned, but deep down, we all have a lot of confidence in the youngsters we have taken," Laxman said.

Laxman said franchises should allow youngsters time to 'settle down', and stressed on the importance of not putting undue pressure on them.

“Every franchise will have youngsters in their batting line up; it is just about allowing the youngsters to settle down in the side. As I said, at the moment we've got three youngsters who are playing in the middle order: Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad - and they are quality players,” he added.

🎥 #InFocus ➡️ @IamAbhiSharma4 Watch the young ⭐ go about his business at training!#OrangeArmy #KeepRising #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/XxLhShT0NP

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) October 1, 2020

Priyam Garg has played in only one of the three matches SRH has played so far. Abhishek Sharma has played all three matches but faced only 8 balls in aggregate. Abdul Samad debuted in SRH's last game, but only came out to bat at the very end, and faced 7 deliveries.

'Inclusion of Kane Williamson has strengthened the batting,' says Laxman

Laxman believes that the inclusion of Kane Williamson has strengthened the batting line-up immensely. The New Zealand skipper had not played SRH's first two games in IPL 2020, but came in for the third and scored 41 runs from 26 balls.

“With the addition of Kane Williamson, who's recovered from his injury [and is] batting at No. 4 - we saw what he did in the previous game - I believe that we've got a strong batting line up and we know their potential and that they can win matches," Laxman said.

Match ki memu siddam 💪#CSKvSRH #OrangeArmy #KeepRising #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/x1B4hGb4fr

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) October 2, 2020

With Kane's inclusion, the SRH middle-order has more stability, albeit at the expense of the Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi. However, Laxman feels that the best players in the squad must always form part of the eleven.

“There's no doubt that we've got three overseas batsmen in the top four. But what we've got to realise is that based on the squad that we've got, we must have the best players playing in the eleven. And all three of Kane, Warner and Bairstow are top-class batsmen who can win matches on their own," he said.

Check out the IPL schedule here

After losing the first two matches, Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to beat table-toppers Delhi Capitals in their third encounter. They will now face MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings at Dubai International Stadium on Friday.