Tom Moody: 'Opening with Saha was deliberate'

The Sunrisers head-coach cited the wicket-keeper batsman's fine T20 record for the promotion.

Saha opening with Dhawan 'ensured a good left-right combination at the top', according to Tom Moody.

Tom Moody, head-coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad, is keeping a couple of selection options open for Thursday's match against Mumbai Indians.

Moody, who is pleased with the team's performance in the first game - Sunrisers beat Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets - would love to keep the momentum going by ensuring the best eleven for the next encounter."It is just the beginning and it feels good to go one up in front of home crowd. There is lot of hard work still ahead and it was a good start for the home team fans too," he said.

"It was a deliberate move to send Widdhiman Saha with Shikhar (Dhawan) in the match against Rajasthan Royals in view of the very good record the former has in T-20 format. And also because it ensured a good left-right combination at the top," he explained.

Moody said the pitch played well for the first game - it had lot of pace and carry - and expected it to not change much over the course of  the next home fixture.