IPL 2024: SRH assistant coach Helmot focuses on maintaining aggressive brand of cricket ahead of RR clash

Sunrisers Hyderabad assistant coach Simon Helmot said the team needs to maintain playing its aggressive brand of cricket.

Speaking on the eve of SRH’s IPL league match against Rajasthan Royals, Simon said they were searching for those extra partnerships that helped them in those early victories, and continually worked on being as tight as they could with the ball.

“Hopefully, that can put us in a good spot against Rajasthan tomorrow,” he said.

“We are prepared to set or chase the targets. For us, it’s all about making sure that we prepare well, that we understand our opposition, that we assess the conditions as quickly as we can, and make sure we play our best brand of cricket,” Simon said.

“I think we try to assess the opposition and play the opposition as best we possibly can, and we know that if we get our right match-ups at the right times, we know that we can match it with any opposition. We know in making big scores, partnerships are the key, and we just missed some of those match-winning partnerships, which we have had in some of the earlier matches,” he explained.

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“It’s that middle stage, which I think, you know, games have been won and lost, and that’s no exception for us. When we’ve won games, we’ve dominated that middle section. Obviously, last game, that’s where CSK, you know, did a lot better than us, so we need to ensure that we play at our best against a strong Rajasthan Royals team,” Simon said.

“Rajasthan has been on top of the ladder for a reason. They’ve got a good balanced side, they’ve got some very good spinners in their team, but we think we’ve got some very good players who spin too,” he said.

Asked whether SRH is over-dependant on openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, Simon said their failure in the last two games was not a worrying factor at all.

“In tight tournaments like this, you know, players need to perform, and the opposition is trying to get you out. And, you know, they are doing their homework on us, as we are going to do our homework on the Rajasthan Royals. So, look, there is no concern,” he said.

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“We know that if we play a positive brand of cricket, that we keep backing our abilities and look to make the best, you know, decisions possible, you know, in every given ball, that we are going to be in a good position to win this game,” said the SRH assistant coach.

“The wicket looks flat. We have seen some really exciting cricket, and I think our team has been at the forefront of that. So, we are looking to regain that early ascendancy,” he added.

“Our single-mindedness is that we wish to play an aggressive brand of cricket, and I think that is what all teams are doing, looking to play an aggressive brand of cricket. It has worked for us on a number of occasions to help us with five victories. Obviously, the last one or two games have not worked so well,” Simon said.