Warner has complete faith in Indian bowlers: Henriques

CHENNAI: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan might be the top two run-getters with 604 and 468 runs respectively in IPL-10, but it is the success of their Indian bowlers which has been the most heartening aspect. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has shouldered the responsibility of the attack and is the leading wicket-taker with 25 scalps. The 27-year-old pacer has got able support from the unsung pacer Siddharth Kaul (16 wickets) and Mohammed Siraj (10).Even rookie Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has been a revelation with 17 wickets to his name. The success of the attack has ensured they haven’t missed the presence of their last-year’s star performers Mustafizur Rahman and Ashish Nehra.
No wonder, Sunrisers allrounder Moises Henriques said that they will again rely on their bowlers when they take on the batting-heavy Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator on Wednesday. “The secret to our success has been our bowlers. Not only have they taken wickets, they have been economical as well. Their good form has reduced the pressure on the batsmen as we have got very little totals to chase. For example, Bhuvi has restricted the batsmen at the start and at the death with his immaculate control. In the middle overs, Rashid has kept the lid on the opposition with his varieties. More importantly, skipper Warner has complete faith in Indian bowlers and empowered them to go ahead and execute their plans,” Henriques told TOI.
Sunrisers might have suffered a blow with Nehra being ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury and still sweating over the availability of the injured Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Nabi on the eve of their match against KKR but Henriques wasn’t too concerned. Instead, the 30-year-old said the side had enough firepower in the reserves to overcome the challenge of KKR. “Mustafizur was our most crucial bowler last season. This season, he has played only one match. That shows that we are not dependent on any particular individual. When you have players like Mustafizur warming your benches, it speaks a lot about our bench strength. There is a healthy competition between us and it has propelled us to reach the last four. So we are not concerned with fitness issues,” Henriques said.
Henriques, who has earlier been part of IPL teams like Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, feels the reason for Sunrisers’ success is the ambience in the dressing room. “There are plenty of stars in our squad, including the coaches, but they don’t have any egos. When you see players like Yuvraj remaining so humble and Kane Williamson always keeping under the radar, managing the team becomes easy. Even when you bench Nehra or Mustafizur, they completely understand. So I feel David Warner has one of the easiest jobs being Sunrisers’ captain and he can focus on his batting,” Henriques said.