IPL 2021: Trevor Bayliss optimistic of an SRH turnaround

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Trevor Bayliss is still optimistic about the fact that his team can still make a turnaround and qualify for the playoffs in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. Despite the defeat against the Chennai Super Kings, Bayliss feels that it is important for the team to not lose confidence or patience after losing their fifth game of the tournament. They are currently languishing at the bottom of the points table and unless they start winning on a regular basis, chances look very bleak for the Orange Army. 

Bayliss is confident that despite a shoddy start to their IPL campaign there is no reason why the champions from the 2016 edition cannot bounce back. “I mean if you look at our first five matches. The first four matches have been lost by only 10 runs. Just got down to one or two small drop catches here and there, a misfield there, few poor or bad overs. Obviously, tonight, we got beaten fairly well,” Bayliss was quoted as saying to reporters following SRH’s 5th loss. 

"Important thing is that we don’t lose our confidence or patience, stick together and keep working hard. T20 is a type of a game, gets on a roll one way or the other. There are no reason why we can’t do like what we did in last year,” Bayliss further added. 

Currently, at the bottom of the points table, SRH need a dramatic turnaround to harbour hopes of going through to the last four. Bayliss who has been at the helm of the team since 2019 said that his team has to often make a couple of changes but they will still try their best and make sure that they keep a settled side. 

"We would like to sit and have a chat. One of the things is not to make too many changes. When we were in Chennai, on that wicket, 1 or 2 injuries, one or two guys were not performing,” Bayliss said. 

"We often had to make 1 or 2 changes; we’ll do our best to keep a settled side when we can," he added.

It was one of those rare off days for the skipper David Warner who struggled to time the ball all through his knock of 57 off 55 deliveries. The southpaw didn’t manage to find the gaps and hardly managed to time the ball properly. He was visibly frustrated after missing several boundary opportunities but his coach defended Warner. He added that the other guys batted well but in the end 170 didn’t prove to be enough.

"I think David (Warner) would be the first one to admit that. We struggled to hit the gaps today and we were horrible to the field today. Obviously, with David that doesn’t happen a lot but tonight it did so personally little bit behind the ball but the other guys battled really well in a team effort," he said.

"Unfortunately, 170 wasn’t quite enough but they bowled pretty well and obviously batted well,” Bayliss added.

Despite bagging three wickets, Rashid Khan had a relatively off day according to his standards. He was smashed all around the park by Ruturaj Gaikwad and when the spin wizard finally got the prized scalp of Gaikwad, an opening partnership of 129 runs had already set the tone for the rest of the batsmen. It was a mere formality from thereon. The leggie came and bagged the wickets of Moeen Ali and Faf du Plessis in his next over but not before conceding three crucial boundaries. 

Speaking on Rashid’s performances, Bayliss said, "He usually bowls the seventh over. One over later is not a big deal. We appreciate that he took 3 wickets. One over before or one over later wouldn’t have made a big difference."

After a few poor outings, Manish Pandey was dropped from the XI in the last few matches. However, against CSK, the team management decided to go with some experience and Manish Pandey was brought back. He didn’t disappoint and looked more positive than he was before his ouster. He was eventually dismissed after scoring 61 of 46 deliveries. 

Speaking on Manish Pandey’s ouster from the team in the last few games, Bayliss said that it was the selectors call as the pitch stopping and spinning didn’t really help their cause. “Absolutely, selector’s choice on that wicket, he didn’t really suit with the ball stopping and spinning,” the SRH coach quipped. 

"Then he would come back into calculations on a wicket like this in Delhi. He showed tonight what a good player he is. Hopefully, from here on the wickets are going to be. We certainly know how damaging player he can be," Bayliss concluded.