IPL 2019: Tom Moody reveals the reason behind roping in Jonny Bairstow

One of the most successful franchises in the last five years, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are keen to make it to the playoffs for the 4th time in a row and for the 5th time in their 7 seasons of existence. Under the inspirational mentorship of Tom Moody, VVS Laxman and Muttiah Muralitharan, the club went on to win the trophy in 2016 and finished as runners up last season.

The team received a great boost with the comeback of their stalwart opener David Warner and they also added some firepower through the auction. Apart from re-buying Wriddhiman Saha, they roped in Kiwi opener Martin Guptill and English keeper Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow, who is one of England’s most crucial players in the current setup, has come a long way and is one of the star additions to this IPL.

Buying Jonny was an important strategy

Talking about the reasons behind going for Bairstow in the auction, head coach Tom Moody revealed that they were looking for an overseas star batsman who could also keep wickets. Bairstow, who is pretty similar to his English teammate Jos Buttler, adds more flexibility to the side according to the Aussie coach.

“Obviously, picking Johnny Bairstow up in the auction was an important strategy for us because we wanted an overseas player who could give us the option to keep wickets. And having an impact player like Johnny Bairstow, who is in the similar mould as of Jos Buttler, just gives us that option and flexibility with our overseas combinations to have that keeping role nailed down and have an impact player at the same time,” Moody was quoted as saying by Times Now.

The Sunrisers will be losing a lot of its important players ahead of the World Cup and they will be keen to wrap up as many points as possible before the squads are announced. They could be left with just two or three foreign players in the squad once the World Cup final 15 lists are out and the management is wary of the potential ramifications.

Here’s the preview of KKR vs SRH game:

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