Moody hopeful of Dhawan’s return to form

"I am pleased with his intent. He looked to bat himself into a good position with that flowing straight drive. There are positives and he is really working hard to turn the things around the corner," Moody said of Dhawan.

Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody was confident of his team bouncing back after two early losses in the tournament.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Tom Moody said he was disappointed with the team’s performance after the loss to Kolkata Knight Riders while stressing that it is time to reflect and learn before the upcoming games.

Winning the toss and batting, SRH scored 142 for six, which was easily overhauled by Gautam Gambhir’s KKR.

Speaking to the media after the match on Saturday evening, Moody said the par score was about 160 to 170. “But as you have seen in any T20 game, if you lose three wickets in the Powerplay, it is difficult to come back,” he remarked.

“But credit should go to (Eoin) Morgan and (Naman) Ojha for that partnership (67 runs), which gave us a total we could compete,” he said.

READ: >KKR eases past Sunrisers

Asked if the team erred in bringing Mustafizur Rahman early, Moody said: “I don’t think so. It is very difficult for any bowler to defend such targets, though there was some unpredictability in the pitch late in the match.”

'DHAWAN IS WORKING HARD'

Interestingly, Moody defended Shikhar Dhawan despite another failure. “I am pleased with his intent. He looked to bat himself into a good position with that flowing straight drive. There are positives and he is really working hard to turn things around. And I think the corner is not far away,” the head coach said.

On Mustafizur’s yorker that castled Andre Russell, he said: “Oh that was fantastic. He is doing everything right.”

Moody remained hopeful even after two early losses in the campaign. “We are capable of turning around quickly. We have seen Mumbai Indians do that last season, though it's not an ideal position to be in,” he said. “We have to remain positive and look ahead and put up collective team efforts.

GAMBHIR IS TRYING DIFFERENT THINGS: SURYA KUMAR YADAV

For his part, Kolkata Knight Riders’ vice-captain Surya Kumar Yadav said that his captain Gautam Gambhir has been “trying things differently.”

“He is keen to take the side through again as he has done earlier,” he added.

Questioned why spinners were not bowled in the early overs, Surya Kumar said, “Because of the good batting strip, it was felt that fast bowlers should have a go first and then let the spinners get some grip on the ball to be in better control.

“May be in next few games, the spinners will be on during the Powerplay.”