VVS Laxman, the mentor of Sunrisers Hyderabad, said on Wednesday that Shikhar Dhawan's form is not a matter of concern for the team and also added that the domestic players need to perform better.
"Shikhar's form is not a worry for SRH team. He is a gifted player and when he plays well he finishes off the match. He is a match winning player," said the Hyderabad-born batsman. Dhawan has scored only 16 runs in the three matches he has played so far in the tournament this season, with single digit scores of 8, 6 and 2.
Although lavish in his praise for SRH's skipper David Warner, who has been in fabulous form, Laxman was worried about the underperformance of the domestic players in the middle order.
"Warner has been in fantastic form and he played many match winning knocks, but other batsmen particularly domestic players coming in the middle order need to contribute more with the bats. If openers and middle orders managed to click then the team certainly enjoys comfortable position," he said.
Warner single-handedly took SRH to a victory against Mumbai Indians on Monday, with his unbeaten 90 off 59 balls, laced with four sixes and seven fours. However, the 41-year-old seemed to be satisfied with the team's bowling performance and also went on to laud the Indian bowlers.
“The bowlers have done well so far for SRH, particularly in the game against Mumbai Indians. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bipul Sharma, Barinder Sran all did well against Mumbai Indians and it's really great to have a first win," he said.
He was also impressed with Mustafizur Rahman, the Bangladeshi pacer, who he described as a “smart bowler”. He also added, “he is exceptionally talented, he has a plenty of variation with new and old ball and more important he is very consistent.”
The team, which is coached by the Australian all-rounder Tom Moody, have not been at their best in the last two editions of the tournament and finished sixth on both occasions.
Laxman also explained the reason why his team faced two consecutive defeats. "We lost first two matches because we could not execute our plans. We played to our strength and won the game against Mumbai Indians," the former Indian batsman said, also adding that the team is confident about facing Gujarat Lions.
"Suresh Raina is a very good limited over player and I'm happy the way Gujarat Lions, playing first time in IPL, is doing," he added.
Sunrisers will be taking on the unbeaten Lions at Rajkot today.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
