The Sunrisers Hyderabad is upbeat on its prospects for the Indian Premier League 7 campaign beginning on April 16 in the UAE.

The Hyderabad franchisee of the Sun TV group, which made its maiden entry in IPL Season Six, ended up in last four and now expects to improve its performance.

Interacting with the media here today, several of the team members of the franchisee along with its management comprising Coach Tom Moody, Kris Srikkanth and VVS Laxman, stated that they now have a strong team headed by south paw Shikar Dhawan and expect to strengthen the brand further.

Undeterred by the need to shuttle to UAE and India, Srikkanth said that the conditions in UAE are similar to that to India, and in fact, the wickets are much slower and may aid spin. This will enable the team to adjust and perform to full potential, he said.

Tom Moody said that the team has a strong balance and a number of senior players like Darren Sammy, David Warner and Aaron Finch, with leadership positions playing for their countries, would be able to form a good combination and do well. “The team morale is high and we expect to come up with a strong performance,” he said.

Sharjah and Dubai pitches are different and they have also changed over the years. But the strong player combination has capability to adapt to any conditions. Describing Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Darren Sammy as three musketeers, Srikkanth said they are expected to be a handful for opponents.

Answering queries, Laxman said, “The team already has 24 members and we do not want to add any more. In fact some of the teams have less than 20. Therefore, we were hard pressed to accommodate local lads in the team.”

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW