IPL 2021: We need to keep dot ball percentage low, says SRH mentor VVS Laxman

Sunrisers Hyderabad SRH mentor VVS Laxman admitted that his batsmen failed to rotate the strike and relied on boundaries during their 13run loss to Mumbai Indians MI in an IPL14 encounter at Chennai on Saturday nightThe defeat saw SRH suffer their third consecutive loss and are placed at the bottom of the tableChasing a target of 151 on a slow Chepauk strip SRH were bundled out for 137 in 194 overs Captain David Warner 36 in 34 balls 2x4 2x6 and Jonny Bairstow 43 in 22 balls 3x4 4x6 put on an opening stand of 67 before Bairstow was out hit wicket SRH suffered a collapse similar to their previous sixrun loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB to snatch defeat from jaws of victory Legspinner Rahul Chahar 40193 and pacer Trent Boult 340283 were the pick of the bowlers for MISRH mentor VVS LaxmanEarlier Kieron Pollardrsquos unbeaten 22ball 35 powered MI to 1505 in 20 oversldquoIt rotating strike is a very important skill on pitches like these where it is difficult to hit through the line and you canrsquot just rely on boundaries and sixes It is important to keep the dot ball percentage low and the only way you can do that is by rotating the strikerdquo VVS Laxman said at the postmatch press conference on Saturday nightHe added ldquoIt is one aspect of the game which is important on such wickets and unfortunately we were not able to do that when Chahar was bowling or even when the pacers were bowling in the middle overs And it is one aspect which is critical if you have to put pressure back on the oppositionrdquoThe former India batsman stressed that batting aggressively in the Powerplay is crucial on such wickets ldquoAs the ball gets older in the second half of the innings it is getting tougher to play the big shots as the ball is stopping on the wicket which is twopaced Also the spinners are extracting turn along with bounce It is one aspect which we definitely discussed if you see the way Jonny Bairstow and David Warner capitalised on the Powerplay It will be very important going forward especially when you are playing on slow tracks like in Chennai use the Powerplay restrictions so that the players coming later on are under less pressurerdquo said LaxmanLaxman further remarked that one set batsman needs to bat through the innings to ease pressure on the newcomersldquoIt is also important for one set batsman to play through the innings as it is very difficult for a newcomer to get used to the surface straightaway especially when the required runrate is climbingrdquo he saidLaxman revealed that pacer Natarajan was left out due to an injury but said his replacement leftarm pacer Khaleel was impressive on the slow surfaceldquoNatarajan was ruled out due to a sore left knee so we played Khaleel who impressed with the way he bowled in the first game of the season He assessed the conditions really well and used a lot of his variations along with extracting a lot of pace and bounce from the surface We will continue to assess Natarajan and take the right decision as to when to play himrdquo he explainedDespite three defeats Laxman insisted that it was important to not only highlight the shortcomings but also to look at the positivesldquoIt is just the start of the tournament and we would have liked to have the winning momentum on our side but having said that it is very important to introspect in a constructive manner and there is no point brooding over the result Everyone is disappointed as they want to win matches for the team but it is about analysing the good things and also about addressing the shortcomings and not repeating it in the following matchesrdquo he said