IPL 2022: Why change something that’s working – Tom Moody on team’s batting order

Sunrisers Hyderabad has lost their last five matches as they have failed to come up with a collective effort with the bat. Kane Williamson has struggled to get going, which has put extra pressure on the rest of the batters. Williamson has scored 208 runs in 12 matches at an average of 18.91 and a mundane strike rate of 92.85 in IPL 2022.

Williamson’s below-par strike rate is now a cause of concern for the Orange Army as they aren’t able to make the most of the PowerPlay overs. The same was the case for SRH as their captain trudged to nine runs off 16 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune after they were comprehensively beaten by 54 runs on Saturday.

Thus, there have been talks that the team management should look to tinker with the batting order and may be promote in-form Aiden Markram and Rahul Tripathi at the top of the order. However, the team’s head coach Tom Moody is against the idea and has put his weight behind an under-fire Kane Williamson.

“Well, Rahul Tripathi has batted exceptionally well at three and Markram has been one of the leading batters in the tournament at four, so, we felt that why change something that’s working for something that’s not working. We have always backed and trusted Kane,” Moody said after SRH’s 54-run loss.

“There’s no question of his world-class quality, so that’s why we haven’t made that move. Because, as we’ve seen throughout the tournament, there are a couple of areas of our batting that have been functioning really well. That is Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order, Tripathi at three, Markram four, and Pooran five.”

In fact, SRH had won five matches in a row but they veered off the track as they have lost their last five games. Moody feels injuries to players like T Natarajan and Washington Sundar have led to their downfall.

“I think we did get on a nice winning roll. Started to play some good cricket, and we had everyone available for selection. We then missed a game that we should have won to make it six in a row. And then we had the injuries of both Washington and Natarajan… and they hold pretty key roles for us in the side, and that’s where I think we lost a little bit of confidence as a bowling unit and a bit of rhythm to our game and method to our defense during the 120 balls. We have struggled to really recapture that rhythm since.”

SRH will next face Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday.