IPL 10: Tom Moody explains late arrival of Kane Williamson in the tournament
"Kane’s like a number of players in squads that you can argue that they could have played more but at the end of the day you can only play four overseas players,” he quoted.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad have been on a roll this season at their home venue. They recently registered their fourth win at the home venue this season. The team head coach Tom Moody was a very pleased man with the performances of the defending champions. One thing that has been troubling the side in a perfect season thus far has been the excess of overseas players.
Unlike the other teams who struggle to get eleven on paper, the SRH camp have a problem of excess. Whenever a player is getting an opportunity, they are seizing it big time. Hence, the selection conundrums have only been heading on the rise. Kane Williamson, the star New Zealand batsman, got his first game of the season after being benched for 5 games.
Williamson hit a classy 89 on return and that set the tone for his arrival at the crease. SRH coach Tom Moody explained the reason why the team had benched him for so long. He noted that with slots for only 4 overseas players, it is tough to accommodate all players. He further noted that another reason for benching Williamson is the preference for the all-rounders in the format of the game.
“Well we won last year. So I guess we got our combinations right. Kane’s like a number of players in squads that you can argue that they could have played more but at the end of the day you can only play four overseas players,” quoted Tom Moody as per the quotes in the Hindustan Times.
“With that, you’ve got to think of combinations to compliment your side with and a lot of that depends on your Indian players. And as we know Kane’s a very fine player in all formats of the game. But he’s had to be patient with opportunities purely because of the combination that we’ve had hasn’t allowed us to play two overseas specialist batsmen. We’ve gone more for all-rounders to give us depth in our bowling,” he added further.
Two of the biggest attractions for the team this season has been Afghanistan players. Both Afghani players in the tournament are in the Sunrisers camp. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi have managed to play well in the opportunities that they have got in the tournament thus far. Tom Moody spoke about the two players as well. He remarked that Nabi has had the experience with him and that has helped the balance of the team.
“They’ve fitted in perfectly. Both speak perfectly good English, along with everyone else in the side.They’ve been around, particularly Mohammad Nabi. He’s been around for quite some time and got involved in different tournament. They fitted into the team environment and it’s been bit of a welcome addition as well you can say. One of the beauties of the IPL is having sort of that unique dynamic balance of nationalities and we’re fortunate to be the first side to secure a couple of Afghanis,” noted the former cricketer.
The only injury concern that the team has at the moment is with pace bowler Ashish Nehra. Tom Moody said that they are not going to rush into getting Nehra back on the field. The team is keen on giving Nehra all the time that he needs for his recovery.
“At this stage the only question mark is on Ashish Nehra. He’s had a neck spasm over the last couple of days. It’s not serious but we’re not going to rush him back if he’s not hundred per cent fit. We would rather continue to play the depth in our squad and give them the opportunity,” he quoted.
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