Rotating strike is crucial on slow tracks: VVS Laxman

"It's very important to keep the dot-ball percentage low, and the only way you can do it is by manipulating the field by rotating the strike," said SRH mentor VVS Laxman

Chennai: Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman rued that his batsmen could not rotate the strike when getting boundaries was tough against Mumbai Indians bowlers on a tough Chepauk wicket.

Chasing a modest 151-run target, SRH could manage only 137 in 19.4 overs as their batsmen struggled to score runs in the middle overs on Saturday.

---

“That’s (taking singles and twos) a very important skill especially on these kind of wickets because it is not easy to hit through the line. You can’t rely on just boundaries and sixes,” Laxman said at the post-match press conference.

“It’s very important to keep the dot-ball percentage low, and the only way you can do it is by manipulating the field by rotating the strike. That is one aspect of the game which is very important on these kinds of wickets. Unfortunately we were not able to do that especially when Rahul Chahar was bowling and even when other fast bowlers were bowling in the middle overs.”

Laxman said as the ball got old in the second half of the innings, playing aggressive was challenging. He also stressed the importance of using the powerplay restrictions. “The ball was just stopping on the wicket and it is two-paced. And also the spinners are extracting turn along with bounce. That is one of the aspects we definitely discussed.

“If you see the way Jonny Bairstow and David Warner capitalised on the powerplay, that will be very important going forward especially when you are playing on slow tracks like what we are seeing in Chennai.

“To use the new ball, to use the Powerplay restriction (is key), so that you put the other batsmen who are coming in later under less pressure,” he said.