The start of the IPL 2021 season has not been good for Sunrisers Hyderabad. They had to face a 10-run defeat at the hands of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in their first match. In addition to Kolkata's excellent batting, Hyderabad losing quick wickets in the initial overs was one of the biggest reasons behind their loss.
SRH skipper Johnny Bairstow (55) and Manish Pandey (61 not out) tried their best, but could not succeed in getting a win for their team. After this defeat, questions are being raised on the batting of Hyderabad and especially Manish Pandey is getting targeted. Without naming Pandey, former India opener Virender Sehwag has taken an indirect jibe at him on Twitter..
During the match, Bairstow was dismissed on the last ball of the 13th over. At that time Manish Pandey was batting on 35 runs off 28 balls. Hyderabad needed 86 runs in the last 7 overs. In such a situation, Pandey was expected to play big shots but he could play just 16 balls more after this, in which only 25 runs were scored by him.
Hyderabad's lack of intent in the batting surprised everyone and especially Manish's innings. Virender Sehwag, without naming Pandey, said that batsmen playing only to improve their figures cause a loss to the team.
Pandey scored 61 runs off 44 balls at a strike rate of 138. In comparison, Bairstow too scored 55 runs at a strike rate of only 137, but the difference was that Manish remained unbeaten till the end and he had a chance to increase the run-rate, in which he failed.