“It's not over and I would hate to see heads and attitudes drop” - Brian Lara after SRH’s loss to LSG

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Brian Lara has urged his team not to give up despite losing to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and fight it out till the end of their three games. Lara opined that Hyderabad could have been placed much higher in the points table had they held their nerves under pressure and won close games.

SRH went down to LSG by seven wickets in match number 58 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Batting first, Hyderabad posted 182/6, a total Lucknow chased down in 19.2 overs.

Hyderabad are languishing at the ninth position in the points table, with only eight points from 11 matches.

Reflecting on SRH’s disappointing performance in IPL 2023, Lara commented:

"It's a situation where we should be sitting down pretty high on this table. We've had some close games and games that entering the final strides of the game, we were ahead. And we did not close it off. It's fair to say we could have been well-placed in this tournament and it's not the case now.”

The West Indies legend urged the team to pick themselves up and stay motivated for the remaining games. He added:

“We've got three games left and we've got to get the guys motivated to get results in these three games. It's not over and I would hate to see heads drop and attitudes drop. I would like to keep it as upbeat as possible and see if we can get wins in the remaining games.”

Lara once again questioned the batters over their lack of consistency, while praising Heinrich Klaasen (47) and Abdul Samad (37*) for lifting the team in the death overs. The 54-year-old said:

"It's not consistent. The highest run-scorer, I don't think has crossed 300 runs for the tournament. That is not cutting it for a batting unit. You can piece partnerships together, that's the good thing about this game, it's such a short version of the game you get two or three partnerships. As you saw with Klaasen and Samad, you get some partnerships going there and then you know you can get a total.”

Anmolpreet Singh (36), Rahul Tripathi (20), and skipper Aiden Markram (28) all got starts on Saturday, but could not carry on.

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“We knew that one over was going to be attacked” - Lara on Abhishek Sharma’s 31-run over

After 15 overs in LSG’s innings, SRH held the upper hand, since the chasing side needed 69 off 30 balls. The 16th over bowled by Abhishek Sharma, though, went for 31, after which Lucknow cantered to victory.

Sharing his views on the game-changing moment, Lara stated:

"Obviously it did not work out for us. It was a stage where we had one over of spin to bowl. We always back our fast bowlers to get the job done. So we knew that one over was going to be attacked. Unfortunately all six or seven balls they had an opportunity to score. We got a wicket with one of it. But so be it.

“Sometimes these things happen. We've had our luck, we've seen in the tournament other teams pulled off amazing victories and we got to give it for Lucknow Super Giants for the way they played right till the end.”

Lara also apologized to the home crowd, which has witnessed SRH losing five out of six matches they have played in Hyderabad. He admitted:

"Our performances at home, the results that we got at home - one win in six games - doesn't equate to the support that we've been getting. We've been getting tremendous support here in Hyderabad, great home support. Coming to the ground, the roads are lined up, even leaving the hotel. So we are hurting as a team.

"All I can say is sorry for the results. I know the guys tried their best and the guys are hurting as well. I suppose it's the time where we sort of reflect.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s next match will be against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday, May 15.