Kane Williamson is a great team man - VVS Laxman

About an hour before the start of the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils, Kane Williamson was defending the throw downs from Vijay Shankar near the boundary line which never gave a proper idea of him featuring in the game unlike the debutant Mohammed Siraj who was found to be warming with the team near the practice pitches.

But a couple of hours later, Kane Williamson produced one of his best knock in Twenty20 cricket scoring 89 in just 51 balls striking 5 sixes, which is an unusual thing for someone like Williamson who is widely known to play anchoring innings. His innings helped Sunrisers to post 191/4, which turned out to be a winning total.

Williamson’s picking ahead of Mohammad Nabi, who did pretty well with the ball in the last game seemed to be due to the pitch, as it was expected to have a lot of runs in it. However, the team’s mentor, VVS Laxman says the pitch wasn’t the only reason for bringing in Williamson.

“We thought that Delhi Daredevils have got a very good pace attack and Williamson at No.3 will give us the stability and solidity and he proved us right. It was about negotiating the fast bowling attack of the Delhi Daredevils and also putting pressure on them,” said Laxman.

Laxman was in all praise of Williamson, one of the best batsmen in the current generation who is happy to warm the bench and wait for his chance in order to suit to the team’s requirements like in this game.

“He (Williamson) is an outstanding batsman. His record speaks for himself and it is unfortunate that he doesn’t regularly feature in the playing XI. Probably in other franchise he might get more chances. But what we as a group really admire about Kane Williamson is his simplicity and also he is a great team man. Even though he doesn’t get to play many matches he helps the team, he helps the youngsters and always maintains the intensity in practice session and always look to be prepared whenever he gets an opportunity. That’s why I say he is a terrific role model and we are very happy and fortunate to have him in the squad,” said the Indian legendary batsman in the post-match press conference.

Local lad Mohammed Siraj, who made his IPL debut in this game picked up two wickets but went for nearly 10 runs an over at the same time. Laxman says he is quite happy at the confidence level of the youngster who came back well after going for big runs in first few balls in his very first game of a big stage like IPL.

“I am amazed by the confidence Siraj has and something which will augur well for him in the future. He has done well where ever he played in the last season and that’s why the team has believed he is one young fast bowler who can do well and win matches for the franchise. The confidence he showed coming back after two expensive overs was very impressive and it makes us feel that we took the right decision to give him an opportunity,” Laxman added.

Speaking about Dhawan’s innings, Laxman says that he is quite happy about Shikhar’s form and the way the team is performing with the bat even after Warner getting out early in the innings.

“It was heartening to watch him (Shikhar) bat today. I am very happy for him. We do not want to rely on just one batsman (Warner) to get all the runs for us. Shikhar has been amongst the runs right through the tournament and it was just about converting his starts into something bigger and this innings should go a long way in boosting his confidence,” he said.

Rashid Khan who was brilliant with the ball in the first four games went for a few runs vs KXIP and turned wicketless against DD. When asked if Rashid will now be under pressure after these games, Laxman believes it is actually the batsmen who actually will be under pressure while facing him.

“The way the opposition is playing, they are trying to not give him a wicket. I think he has already started playing in the minds of all the batsmen in the tournament because whenever you look not be aggressive against a certain bowler, you are aware of what he can do to you. I feel he has already created an impact and right from the auction, we believed that he’s the X-factor of the team and I believe he will continue to do well for us as the tournament progresses,” said the Hyderabadi batsman.

Taking about deciding the playing XI for the next game considering the way Williamson performed, Laxman says that their squad have given a chance to pick an XI according to the requirements and oppositions.

“We are very fortunate to have a lot of talented pool of players and unfortunately due to the nature of the game, we can only play eleven of them. I think we have always mentioned after the auction that we plugged in the loopholes we had last year and because of the new recruits and the squad strength we have, we are having a luxury fielding different combinations based on the conditions as well as the opposition. We will have a look at the Pune wicket and depending on that we have to pick the best possible combination,” Laxman concluded.