IPL 2021: Trevor Bayliss reveals why Kane Williamson missed the game against KKR

There were some unconventional decisions from the SRH team management during the course of the match. One of the decisions which irked the fans most was to leave out New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson. Kane Williamson was seen warming the bench at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. SRH went with David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi as their four overseas players. 

SRH head coach Trevor Bayliss has identified that Kane Williamson needs some more time to get fit before he takes the field. The New Zealand batsman, earlier, missed out on the Kiwis’ home series against Bangladesh. He had suffered a small tear in his left-elbow tendon that was causing him irritation. Kane did not play SRH’s opening game of the tournament against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. 

If Kane was fit, he would have been in the playing XI: Trevor Bayliss

The 2019 England’s World Cup-winning coach says that they are giving rewards to the players who performed well for them last season when SRH qualified for the playoffs. Hence, Wriddhiman Saha, after his quickfire cameos at the top towards the end of the tournament in the UAE, maintained his place. On the other hand, Bairstow was shifted down at number 4, his newfound position in T20 cricket for England as well.

Bayliss stated that had Kane been fit, he would have been included in the playing XI in place of Jonny Bairstow. Notably, Jonny Bairstow hit an impressive 40-ball 55. He also formed a crucial 92 runs partnership with Manish Pandey for the third wicket. SRH had lost both their openers David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha, inside three overs of the 188-run chase. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) started their IPL 2021 campaign with a 10-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday night. SRH’s pacers were taken to the cleaners as Nitish Rana smashed a 56-ball 80. His brilliant knock helped KKR post 187/6. Sunrisers got off to an awful start, but half-centuries from Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow pushed SRH closer to the target but couldn’t get them over the line. Their next IPL game is against the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on April 14 at the Chepauk.

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