IPL 2021: He Was Our Best Player During Practice Matches - SRH Coach Trevor Bayliss Explains Why Vijay Shankar Batted Ahead Of Abdul Samad Against KKR

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Trevor Bayliss opened up about the reason why Vijay Shankar batted ahead of Abdul Samad during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing IPL 2021. Sunrisers Hyderabad lost the match against Kolkata Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday (April 12). While chasing 188, Sunrisers Hyderabad remained 10 runs short in spite of losing only five wickets in the match.

Vijay Shankar, who batted at the number six position for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the game, failed to hit big shots when the team needed a high required rate to win. After arriving on the crease in the 16th over, Shankar played 7 balls and could only score 11 runs. Abdul Samad, who arrived after Shankar’s dismissal, hit 19 runs off just 8 balls along with two sixes.

Vijay Shankar Was Great During Practice Matches, Says Trevor Bayliss

During the post-match press conference, Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Trevor Bayliss explained the reason why Vijay Shankar batted ahead of Abdul Samad. Bayliss revealed that Vijay Shankar was their best player during the practice matches.

“The practice matches that we had a few days ago, Vijay Shankar was our best player. He struck the ball beautifully. He hit the many balls long over the fence,” Bayliss said.

Speaking about Abdul Samad, Sunrisers Hyderabad coach said that he has shown that he has got a lot of talent. “From the first ball he faced, Samad was in a short space of time. In the last and this IPL, he has shown that he has got a lot of talent and he is a plain striker of the ball. I think he will get more experience when he gets more opportunities,” Bayliss further said.

Kolkata Knight Riders batted first in the match and put up 187-6 on the scoreboard. Opener Nitish Rana (80) and one-down Rahul Tripathi (53) smashed half-centuries. A quickfire knock of 22 off 9 balls by Dinesh Karthik helped KKR to reach a defendable total in the end.

For Sunrisers Hyderabad, Manish Pandey (61*) and Jonny Bairstow (55) played beautiful knocks. Abdul Samad also scored quick runs (19* off 8) in the end but the team ultimately remained short of 10 runs for victory. KKR’s Nitish Rana was awarded player of the match for his 80-run knock.