Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner believes his side hasn’t played to potential over the last two years, but hopes they will be able to overcome two successive losses while facing Mumbai Indians on Monday
Nagraj Gollapudi in Hyderabad17-Apr-2016David Warner, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, believes his side has failed to work out the “complete game” in the last two IPL seasons, but hopes his team will be able to “gel together” in their next match, against Mumbai Indians on Monday.Sunrisers have lost both their matches so far and sit at the bottom of the points table. Last year, they had failed to qualify for the knockouts, finishing third from the bottom with seven wins and as many losses. The biggest positive was the form of Warner, who was the leading run-scorer with 562 runs from 14 innings.Warner remains the team’s go-to batsman especially in the absence of Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson, both of whom are nursing injuries and likely to miss a fair amount of matches in the first half. But Warner has tried to make up for those losses. He hit a quickfire half-century in a valiant chase of 228 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their season opener.But against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, Warner and his opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, faltered to leave Sunrisers precariously placed at 36 for 3 in the first six overs. It was a passage which Tom Moody, the coach, felt cost them the match. And Warner agreed.”In hindsight we didn’t bat as well as we planned,” Warner said. “Chasing 228 is always a big ask at any venue, but we know in Bangalore 200 gets run down a lot. We just weren’t good enough on the day. Then, in the other game, we didn’t start well – we lost three wickets in the first six. That is not ideal. You need 160-170 to defend at least.”Our bowlers have sort of missed the mark in the last two games – I felt that execution was not there. We bowled probably one or two bad overs last night, but were good upfront. We still haven’t had the complete game. Last year and this year we still haven’t worked out the complete game, the batters haven’t worked well with the bowlers. We have to try and gel and work together as much as we can.”Interestingly, 44% of Sunrisers’ runs this season have been scored by Warner and Eoin Morgan. Unlike some of the other teams, Sunrisers have lacked firepower in the middle. But Warner felt it was the responsibility of the top four to carry the team through.”You are not going to get the depth as you like,” he said. “You have to use your resources smartly, which is very challenging. I don’t think we have a weakness there [in the lower order]. It is about getting our top four to bat through ten overs. That is where the runs come – top four is where the bulk of the runs come and I guarantee you No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 will do their job very well then. We have to work on how we are going to get our balance right, how we can use our Indian players well.”Warner was mindful of the damage a third successive loss could do early in their campaign. “We have got to really come out firing,” he said. “This game is going to be the game where we gel together. They are going to be hungry as well because they are in the same position as us. We have to be switched on and make sure we keep executing our plans, we can’t keep talking about it, we have to do it on the day.”Even as he offered perspective on the team’s shortcomings, Warner didn’t shy away from pointing out his own mistakes, including his dismissal against Knight Riders. He had backed away to cut Umesh Yadav, but was too early into the stroke and handed a catch to short cover to fall for 13 in the fourth over.”I have got out a fair bit like that,” Warner admitted. “You pick up the ball so early, but you try and place the ball. We always tell ourselves when we are trying to place the ball that you actually don’t go through with the shot and it sort of just pops up like that. I always walk off and wonder ‘why did I do that?’ Because it is hard when you are out there; some people understand that and some don’t. When you are out there, sometimes you go through with it and sometimes it just stops and you wonder ‘man, how do I get out of that?’ I don’t even know sometimes.”What hurt Sunrisers was the timing of his dismissal, which came four balls after Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed. “I was disappointed with the way I got out,” he continued. “I have had success doing the same thing against Morne Morkel. But the wicket from his end was bouncing. At the other end Yadav was getting it to skid through. I know there is a height difference, but still there was a little bit of inconsistency. That is where you talk about giving yourself some time. I know I did not give myself the time. I was a bit rushed, but sometimes in the game that gets you going, sometimes it can be your downfall as well.”
