Rotating strike important, can't rely on just boundaries, feels Laxman

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made their worst start in the Indian Premier League (IPL), losing their third game of the season in as many matches. After being set a target of 151 by Mumbai Indians (MI), they seemed to be well on course when David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were going all guns blazing, but just like a few other matches, the bowling team pulled things back on the Chepauk surface and eked out a 13-run win. 

SRH mentor VVS Laxman was unhappy with the team's performance and was of the opinion that the batsmen should rotate the strike on such wickets and not just look to hit boundaries. "That's (taking singles and twos) a very important skill especially on these kinds of wickets because it is not easy to hit through the line. You can't rely on just boundaries and sixes," Laxman said at the post-match press conference.

"It's very important to keep the dot-ball percentage low, and the only way you can do it is by manipulating the field by rotating the strike. That is one aspect of the game which is very important on these kinds of wickets."

"Unfortunately we were not able to do that especially when Rahul Chahar was bowling and even when other fast bowlers were bowling in the middle overs," he added.

The former India batsman also stressed on the fact of making the best use of powerplay like Warner and Bairstow did against Mumbai. But at the same time, acknowledged that as the ball got older, it became more challenging for the batsmen.

"It is quite difficult for a newcomer to get used to the surface straightaway especially when the asking rate is climbing up. The first 10 overs, the way you show your positive and aggressive intent, will help the second half of the innings," he added.

Asked if struggling Manish Pandey could be demoted in the batting order, Laxman did not give a direct answer. "We have been flexible with our batting order. Even today we made changes, we had Virat Singh and Abhishek Sharma, two left-hand batters, to counter the Mumbai spinners.

"We have got some days before the next game, and we will definitely go back to the drawing board to work out the strategy to get a win under our belt and we will look at what the best combination and batting order is." 

Laxman added that T Natarajan had to miss out due to a niggle, but was impressed with the way Khaleel Ahmed bowled in his first game of the season.  "Unfortunately, Natarajan had a niggle in his left knee and that's why he was ruled out and that's why we went with Khaleel Ahmed. We are going to assess the condition of Natarajan," Laxman said.

"I was very impressed with the way Khaleel bowled. In his first game of the season, he assessed the conditions really well and used a lot of his variations along with extracting a lot of pace and bounce off the surface. So a lot of positives [to take] for SRH from the way Khaleel Ahmed bowled," Laxman signed off.

SRH will look to get off the mark in IPL 2021, when they take on Punjab ings (PBKS) in their next match on Wednesday (April 21) in Chennai.

(With inputs from PTI)