Sunrisers bowled poorly, says Waqar Younis

Hyderabad - Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling coach Waqar Younis said his bowlers performed “quite poorly” in the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings, who won the game by 77 runs here on Wednesday night.

With the team still stuck on the fifth position on the points table, Younis believes the bowlers will have to put their act together.

“Bad day at the office. It didn’t get the way we planned. We bowled pretty ordinary. We made a plan but I don’t think we executed that. We bowled quite poorly and it was all over the place. We have to fix it soon,” said Younis.

“I think the most important part is to bowl straight. I don’t think we bowled straight enough. We bowled all over the place. We gave them the width to hit and they are all international players. If you bowl bad deliveries to them, they will pound. They have shown it today by scoring 77 runs in four-odd overs. You can’t afford to bowl like that,” he said.

Defending the decision to field first, Younis said under the little overcast and humid conditions they thought it might swing around a bit but that didn’t happen.

“We have chased also in last few matches. There are a few things which we have to really look into it and we thought there is little bit in the pitch. Ishant Sharma bowled very well in the last game and suddenly he couldn’t get it right. Both left-handers Hussey and Raina are in great form. They cashed in.”

Ishant Sharma conceded 66 runs in four overs, the highest by any bowler in the IPL.

The former Pakistani speedster feels there was nothing he could have done.

“This is the worst part of coaching. You can’t do anything about it. You have to sit out and wait till the end to talk and tell them what to do in the next game. 20-20 is so fast, it doesn’t give you opportunity to send the message.”

On Dale Steyn, who bowled very well in the match with figures of 4-1-17-0, Waqar said it was very difficult to compare anyone with Steyn.

“Look at his record at international level. His class is written all over him. The way he bowled not only this game but most of the games he played he spearheaded and he proved it again and again. He brings lot of energy to the team.”

On local bowling talent in the IPL, Younis pointed out that there are lots of bowlers in this IPL with some new faces. He believes IPL offers a great opportunity to young bowlers to learn.

“Vinay Kumar is coming back. You have Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowling very well. You also have Amit Mishra coming back. I think it is a great platform. You see lot of talent. Umesh Yadav, I think, has good talent.”