Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman is of the opinion that the promotion of Manish Pandey to the No 3 position in the ongoing IPL has helped him gain maturity and responsibility without sacrificing his natural flair of scoring runs at a brisk rate. His exceptional knock of 71 almost pulled off a miraculous victory against the Mumbai Indians which would have helped them inch a step closer to the playoffs. However, a defeat in the Super over has left them with no choice but to win their final league game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The match was almost done and dusted when Manish Pandey and Mohammad Nabi played a crucial part in bringing them back into the game. Both struck some exceptional shots and kept SRH in the game. Nabi and Manish Pandey struck two sixes in the final four legitimate deliveries of the match to level the scores. Eventually, it was Mumbai Indians who prevailed in the super over.
With two exceptional death overs specialist in the form of Jasprit Bunmrah and Lasith Malinga in the MI playing XI, it was always going to be a difficult task for SRH to get over the line. However, Manish Pandey kept them in the hunt with some exceptional strokeplay. Meanwhile, VVS Laxman also heaped praises on Mohammad Nabi who has evolved as a match winner for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“But we found our heroes in Manish Pandey and Mohammad Nabi. Manish has been in glorious touch since moving up to No. 3, and he continued to show maturity and responsibility without sacrificing natural flair.
It’s no mean achievement to take on Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga, two of the best death-overs specialists in the game, but neither he nor Nabi lost hope or their head. Nabi is fast emerging as a stellar all-round option for us, while Manish showed nerves of steel by slamming the final ball for six to ensure a tie,” VVS Laxman was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
“It was a case of so near, yet so far for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians on Thursday night. We did several things right against a formidable home team at the Wankhede Stadium, but fell just short and now have to win our final match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday to stay in the hunt,” VVS Laxman further added.
The former classy middle-order batsman VVS Laxman also hailed the SRH bowling attack for restricting Mumbai Indians to just over 160. It was backed up by good fielding and SRH seemed well on course after Wriddhiman Saha and Martin Guptill got them off to a rapid start. It was the spin department for Mumbai Indians which got them back into the game. SRH scored just 43 runs in 8 overs which put enormous pressure for the batsmen coming later on.
“We bowled exceptionally well to restrict the power-packed MI line-up to just over 160, backed up by wonderful fielding, and seemed on course after Wriddhiman Saha and Martin Guptill got us off to a rapid start. However, we lost our way against the MI spin pair of Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya. That we only managed 43 runs in eight overs of spin put us under tremendous pressure towards the back-end of the innings,” VVS Laxman concluded.