IPL 2021: SRH coach Trevor Bayliss says ‘Kane Williamson needs some more time’

The head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad Trevor Bayliss said star player Kane Williamson, who was absent from SRH’s opening match against KKR will need some more time before he becomes match fit. 

In the last IPL season, Williamson scored 317 runs in 11 innings for the team, while Jonny Bairstow scored 345 after opening the innings in IPL 2020. 

Bayliss said in a conference after losing to KKR by 10 runs, “We just felt that Kane needed a little bit of extra time to get match fit and a little bit more time in the nets.” He added that if Williamson would have played, it would have been in the place of Jonny, but Jonny has been in form in recent white-ball cricket matches in India. 

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On the other hand, Wriddhiman Saha got out just for seven runs in the match against KKR, though he made an impact in the last season in the UAE. To accommodate Jason Holder in the team, Bairstow was rested, which gave the team the balance it needed. Because of which, they even made it to the play-offs but lost against the runner-up team Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2. 

The head coach said, “We got off to a slow start last tournament but came back well to reach the finals (playoffs). Someone like Saha opening and batting so well in that tournament we felt we should reward the guys who finished it so well for us last year.” 

He also made it clear that Jonny Bairstow will still be a formidable option for as an opener for the team. 58-year-old former Australian cricketer said, “Depending on fitness and form, we know Jonny can open the batting and keep as well.”

Vijay Shankar was given the chance to play before Abdul Samad but he got out scoring only 11 runs off 7 balls. While, Samad hit big shots against Pat Cummins, including a couple of sixes too but the team fell short of 10 runs.

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“Vijay, in our practice matches that we had a few days ago, was our best player,” Bayliss said.

“He struck the ball beautifully and made 95 in one of the games, hit a lot of the balls long way over the fence. It’s always difficult in those situations whenever you go in you have to go pretty much from the first ball you face.

“Samad in a short space of time last IPL and this one has shown that he has a lot of talent and is a clean striker of the ball. I think as he gets more experience, he will get more opportunities.” Sunrisers Hyderabad will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on Wednesday.