Sunrisers have put Chennai loss behind: Laxman

Mohali: The severe bashing they received from Chennai had an impact on them but Sunrisers Hyderabad are determined to not repeat their mistakes in the remainder of the tournament, SRH mentor VVS Laxman said on Friday.

"You have to be really positive, definitely you get really hurt when you lose in such a manner, which we did. There is no doubt that we were very disappointed about the way we played against CSK in Hyderabad," Laxman said ahead of the crucial match against Kings XI Punjab. "But you have to move forward, you learn from your mistakes and you don`t want to repeat them in the following match or in the remaining part of the tournament. I think we took out the positives from that match," 38-year-old former batting star said. With 14 points from 12 games, Sunrisers have a good chance to make the knockout stage. A win here tomorrow will push them closer to the play-offs. Laxman said Hyderabad have done well as a bowling unit except for the last game. "I think whichever team we are playing against, they respect the bowling strength the Sunrisers has got. We have got some quality bowlers in all departments, we have got good fast bowlers in Steyn, Ishant Sharma and Perera. Darren Sammy is a good all-rounder. We have got Mishra and Karan Sharma as our spinners. "I think we have done well as a bowling unit and our bowlers have won a lot of matches for us, especially some close games," he said. At the same time, he pointed out that the contest should not be seen as "totally batting group versus the bowling group." "It`s a tussle, it`s a contest between two good teams. I think it?s important that we play to our strengths and not really think about what the opposition is thinking about us. We just want to go out there and execute our plans," he said. About the team`s batting, which has lacked the firepower, Laxman hoped that now with batsman such as Shikhar Dhawan around, the team can expect a big innings from him. Laxman said to be in the team with international stars such as Styen, it was a good learning curve for youngsters such as Hanuma Vihari. "There are good players who have done well in international cricket, talking to players like Sangakkara who has got so many runs in world cricket or to the best bowler in world cricket Dale Steyn, how they work how they plan bowling out the batsman or how they counter a good bowing attack. I am sure it will be a good learning phase for Vihari and I am sure that he will do really well." Laxman informed that their player Ashish Reddy, who fractured his finger while fielding in the last match against CSK, will miss out due to injury. PTI