It was an off day for us: Parthiv Patel #SRHvsCSK

All talks of the Hyderabad pitch being low and slow were put to rest by the Men in Yellow. Chennai Super Kings posted a mammoth 223 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday, the highest total at this venue, this year so far. (Also Read: SRH vs CSK - M54 Report & Stats: IPL 2013)

It was raining runs as the SRH bowlers were left with no answers to the dominance of the CSK batsmen. The result, the home team had to suffer a 77-run defeat as they retained their fifth spot in the points table.

Sunrisers’ opener Parthiv Patel who was coming off a string of low scores in the tournament, finally got some runs on the board scoring a quick-fire 44, though it was not enough to get his team going. In a chat with IPLT20.com, Parthiv spoke of his role in the team and the reason why the Sunrisers Hyderabad have got a lot of people surprised with their good showing in the IPL. 

Here are excerpts from the interview:

A disappointing loss for the team, but you would personally take a lot of positives from the game?

Oh yes, definitely. Personally it was good to get some runs today (against the Chennai Super Kings). I was always getting starts and scoring in twenties and getting out. It was good to get an opportunity to get more runs than my previous knocks. It was important the way I started my innings. I got off to a good start and managed to score runs at a brisk pace. Hopefully I can continue this form.

All players have designated roles in the team, what is yours?

My job in the team is to bat through the fifteen overs, try to rotate strike consistently and allow the batsman at the other end to score freely. But Wednesday was a different story. We had to chase a 200 plus score and I had to go for my shots.

SRH boasts of being a good bowling unit. What do you think went wrong for the team? 

I think it was just an off day for us. We have bowled well in the tournament so far and have been consistent with our bowling performances. We have to forget about Wednesday’s game and just focus on the next game.

Do you think 224 was gettable on this wicket?

You always go into the game with a positive mindset that the target to be chased is always gettable. We had to go for the chase from ball one, and if we had got a good start, you never know the result could have been different. The wicket was really good to bat on, it was a different wicket that we played on and I feel it was the best wicket to bat.

Is batting still a problem for the Sunrisers?

I think it is not an area of concern. We just have to make sure that one from our top order batsmen sticks around till the fifteenth over. If we are able to do that, we can get to scores of 160 or 170 which is a good score on any kind of wicket.

A word on Suresh Raina’s innings.

I think it was a phenomenal innings by Suresh Raina and also by Michael Hussey. We all know how good they are and it was their day and they made the most of it.

No.5 in the points table at the moment, the competition is stiff and you have to pull up your socks?

We still have a few games left and we have to look to win them. We cannot think about the run-rate, because it is something that is not in our hands. And if we go and win the games left, I am sure we can make it to the Play-Offs.

Why has the team’s good run this IPL taken everybody by surprise?

I think the reason why all have got surprised is that no one was expecting us to do so well. As a team we were always confident of a good show even before the tournament started. We might not have big names in the side, but we knew we have quality players and if we play to our potential we can beat the best sides in the competition.

source: iplt20.com