Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody has said that they will not take Kings XI Punjab lightly and his team will have to bring their ‘A’ game to defeat KXIP. The momentum is with KXIP as they thrashed Mumbai Indians by 8 wickets in their last match while Sunrisers Hyderabad lost to Delhi Daredevils. With seven wins in eleven matches, Sunrisers need to win one more game from their remaining three games to qualify for the playoffs.
“We know they are a dangerous side, they have got some match winners within their side. They haven’t had the consistency that they would have liked to this point. We need to bring our A game tomorrow. Because if we drop our guard in any department, bat, ball or in the field, we know they are a side that can hit hard,” Moody said on the sidelines of his team’s net session, in which few senior players did not take part and opted to take rest.
When asked about the secret of his team’s brilliant performance in this season, Moody said that the new additions to the team have played a major role.
“I think if you look at the squad that we have got this year as compared to previous years, with the two sides that have been banned from the IPL, what it has done is that it has freed up a few players who we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to access to at the auction process or even through trading.”
He said veteran Indian players like Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra lend depth to the squad and bring experience within the group and it is good to have local players like Brainder Sran. “It is always nice to have players who have experience in the local conditions. One, they obviously know how the surface plays here and they also feel comfortable given the number of games that they have played here. So, they have a little bit of local support, all these things add up to small advantages. “I am still sure that the majority of support will be behind Kings XI, but again we come to expect that on an away game,” Moody said.
Mustafizur Rahman is one of the main reasons for Hyderabad’s brilliant performance this season. In his last match again Delhi he went wicketless, conceding 39 runs from his four overs,but Moody backed the Bangladeshi pacer,saying he was confident that the young Bangladeshi bowler will bounce back in tomorrow’s game.
“He is fine, everyone has a bad day, even the best (have a bad day). He has been terrific for us throughout the season. We don’t see that being any different. He didn’t quite get the consistency (against Delhi) that he has shown throughout the series so far, but we expect him to bounce back tomorrow,” Moody said.