Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Sunrisers coach Moody hopes for Yuvraj's speedy recovery

April 06, 2016 16:57 IST

IMAGE: Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom moody speaks to his players. Photograph: BCCI.

The coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad Tom Moody is hoping for Yuvraj Singh’s speedy recovery ahead of season nine of the Indian Premier League.

The Hyderabad-based franchise made some smart picks in the 2016 IPL Player Auctions. But the biggest name that caught everyone’s attention was Yuvraj.

However, the senior all-rounder is recovering from an injury, that he sustained during the World T20 and is expected to miss out on the first two weeks of IPL.

"A player like Yuvraj Singh is important to any team. He is not only a match-winner with the bat but he is a very useful bowler in those middle overs," Moody said.

 "Sadly, Yuvraj will be out for a couple of weeks but we don’t know how long that is going to be," Moody hoped for Yuvraj’s speedy recovery from an ankle injury.

IMAGE: Yuvraj Singh hits the gym to get fit for IPL 9. Photograph: Facebook.

Yuvraj Singh recently posted a picture of him working out in the gym in a bid to make a speedy comeback.

Moody also said that he has enough depth in the side to make up for his star all-rounder’s absence.

"What we are aware of this year is building a great depth and strength in our squad and by securing people like Aditya Tare, Tirumalasetti Suman who has had a lot of IPL experience in the past, we feel that we have got that depth of talent to be able to cover for any circumstance and Yuvraj’s absence is one of them.

"With Yuvraj being injured at this stage, you don’t know what is around the corner - you need that depth in the squad," he said.

One of the major highlights is the Sunrisers’ bowling department that has a variety of fast bowling options; out of which four of them are left-arm pacers.

Their new entrants has the experience of Ashish Nehra and the exuberance of young Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman who impressed everyone with his skills set in the bilateral series against India and in the Asia Cup.

"Yes, we were keen to have some left-arm options in our pace attack and we also felt that in shorter form of cricket they are effective. At the end of the day, Nehra and Mustafizur were introduced into our squad since both are top quality world class bowlers. Whether they bowl left or right hand it doesn’t make any difference. They are top class and they are a welcome addition to the squad," said Moody. 

"We have got a good balance of experience and youth in this side which is important. We have got some experienced campaigners in Yuvraj, Nehra, Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and some young talent that will work off those experienced players. We have an exciting balance," he signed off.