Sunrisers pumped up

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) is a balanced side that hopes to go the distance in the seventh edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) which begins at Abu Dhabi on April 16. The team has been bolstered by the presence of a healthy combination of experience and youth who are all set to go for the kill. This is the war-cry of the team’s chief coach Tom Moody and chief mentor Kris Srikkanth who interacted with the media here (SRH headquarters) on Thursday. Exuding confidence that SRH will be the team to beat this time around, Srikkanth said that they had learnt valuable lessons in the debut season last year.

"Obviously, we had a good campaign last year, given that we finished fourth. We have a balanced composition that allows us to adapt," Moody said. “We realized that the mood in the dressing room is good and we wanted to keep that going. That is why we retained last season’s core team. We have added fire power to our arsenal,” they said.

"We have Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Darren Sammy and Dale Steyn. The most important thing is we were able to manage somehow to get almost the core team. Last year, we jelled well together and did well. I think that's a very important aspect," he added. SRH mentor VVS Laxman said the batting and bowling departments have been strengthened with new players like Aaron Finch, David Warner and Irfan Pathan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar joining the side.

"We have good balance. If they fail, Kris can bat as well,” Moody said in a lighter vein. On the controversies that have surrounded the sport, Srikkanth said that no player was bigger than the sport and no controversy can suppress the game’s popularity.