The Free Press Journal

A full game would have helped us: Murali

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Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Muttiah Muralithar­an is contend with his team's performanc­e in the ongoing IPL despite its failure to reach the final and said a full 20-over game would have been beneficial to them.

"I think overall if you see, the Bengaluru wicket this year was very low scoring. I thought 130 is a par score. I think with more runs on board and if you take two or three wickets in a 20-over game, we would have had a better chance than playing a six-over game. KKR deserve to win," Muralithar­an told reporters at the post-match press conference here.

Muralithar­an felt his team fell 10 runs short of what they would have wanted on the board. "The wicket is not that great to play shots here, because if you had played your shots, you would have been bowled out for 70-80 runs. We were thinking about putting 140 runs, and if we had a 20over game, we had the bowling to defend. Unfortunat­ely, we were 10 runs short. They bowled well as well," he said.

"We have all seen on this wicket this season, even while defending 130, teams have won," he added.

Muralithar­an said the team had a very good season and played well.

"Unfortunat­ely, it was the rain, which you cannot complain about, and you need to move on because they played better. We had a very good season and we played well.

"However, unfortunat­ely you need to go out sometimes when you are in the knockouts. Therefore, unfortunat­ely this year is not our year. We will make sure if we can build the same team next year, comeback and fight for the trophy," he said.

Muralithar­an reiterated that he is satisfied with the players' performanc­e.

"Our batsmen batted well, the bowlers, who were picked in the auction, did well as well. Therefore, we are satisfied with our players along with our performanc­e as well," he said.

The Lankan spin legend Muralithar­an also said, "We also won eight matches or something, while we just lost five matches, along with this loss. We won it last year, and that is not going to happen every time. Every team tries hard. Therefore, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We take it on the chin and say 'Ok, it’s not our year'. I also congratula­te all the players who played really well for us."

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