HYDERABAD: Mayank Agarwal is going through a lean patch and that has not helped Sunrisers Hyderabad’s cause as the hosts, after an indifferent start, have looked to build on the momentum they have gained after two back-to-back victories. The opener has scored 27, 8, 21 and 9 in the last four games, which is a big let down considering his reputation of being a prolific scorer.
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However, skipper Aiden Markram is unperturbed by the lack of runs from his star player. “Mayank’s ability and how great a player he is and how he has performed at the international level is something one needs to keep in mind. Over the years in the IPL, he has been consistent. Hence, we are not concerned about it at all. Similar to Harry, he is looking in great touch in the nets and is still in a very positive frame of mind. It's always, as a batter, 20 minutes in the middle from putting a big score on the board. We are confident of Mayank and his ability and what he can contribute to the team,” Markram said in a pre-match briefing on Monday evening.
On Harry Brooks’ scintillating performance, the skipper said: “It’s great for us as a team to have someone like Harry in form. Obviously, it was unfortunate that he was not able to put that form into scores in the early games, but we know his ability. It is nice to see him among the runs again and it's good news for the team. Hopefully, the others too will be among the runs in the coming games.
“It was a significant and great knock to watch and one of the better ones which I have witnessed. With the games in the coming week or so, Harry’s form is a great sign for the team,” he said.
SRH had put down a few chances against Kolkata Knight Riders the other day and the skipper said the boys are working on it. “I think we can improve quite a bit on our fielding as we, unfortunately, had put down a lot of catches the other night. As a team, we always try to improve as much as we can and get better from game to game. Hopefully, the guys can find a lot of trust in their preparation and fix the things in which we are struggling a bit,” he said.
On the clash against Mumbai Indians, he said: “MI is a great team as they have won countless IPL titles. They have a really good batting line up as we have seen - it’s a full international lineup. It’s a challenge for our bowlers to test their skills against a great batting line-up. But we have been getting good starts with the ball and if we, hopefully, get off to another great start with the ball, it will help the team in the middle overs and going into the back end.”
“We have been really good with the ball in the last two games. The Eden wicket was a flat one and had small boundaries but if we had taken our catches, we would have bowled them out for a total which would be below par on the wicket. In the previous games, we have taken wickets in the power play and it helps the bowlers in the middle. (Mayank) Markande has taken wickets in the middle and we certainly are pleased with the personnel we have in the team in terms of taking wickets and creating good opportunities for us,” the skipper said.
“We had a much better powerplay in the previous game and if we can take that confidence into tomorrow’s game it will help. We got great players in our top order and we can trust them to get the job done for us,” he said.
