'Shikhar is going to blossom every single game he plays'

Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody has said that it is a pleasure working with players such as Shikhar Dhawan, who have a strong desire to improve their skills and evolve as a cricketer. 

The 27-year-old Dhawan scored his second consecutive half-century to lead Hyderabad to the main round of Champions League T20 as they beat Faisalabad Wolves. 

"He has done a good job, he is going to blossom every single game he plays, his leadership today was excellent. The positive thing about Shikhar is that whether he is captaining or batting, he constantly wants to improve," Moody said at the post-match press conference.

"He is always asking questions, he is always wanting to develop his game. So, from a coaching point of view, it is pleasure to work with people who have an open mind and are prepared to grow, as people," the burly Australian added.

With back-to-back victories, Hyderabad have joined New Zealand's Otago Volts in the main draw while Wolves from Pakistan and Kandurata Maroons from Sri Lanka have been eliminated.

Further praising Dhawan, Moody said "his maturity and work ethics have sort of come in line. He is very clear on what he wants to achieve, he is an extremely hard worker, he is very thorough in his preparation and when you have someone who has those sort of professional standards along with a lot of natural ability, they are destined to perform consistently at higher level." 

Moody also felt Dhawan was lucky get an opportunity to show what he is capable of. 

"It's opportunity as well, there is a lot of good players out there in the world, who do the right thing and work hard, but don't get opportunity. When he got his opportunity here in Mohali, he took it with both hands and hasn't looked back." 

The Sunrisers coach said that with one more game coming up on Friday, the team will be looking to go through qualifying stage undefeated, "as momentum in Twenty20 is important."

Moody said they had expected the Qualifying stage to be a challenging one. 

"We think teams in this stage are very competitive and they have got a lot of experience. We knew we had to be playing at our best, which is never easy to do when you've had limited preparation time. It's nice to know that we have an opportunity to play in the main tournament," he said. 

He also said their preparation was second to none "because we've had some pressure cricket." 

Asked if it was a stronger Hyderabad team in comparison to that played in IPL, Moody said, "...the pleasing thing to me is that we as a team manage to develop our game around the conditions we were playing in. The conditions we are playing out here are completely different to what we most of the times faced in IPL, slow wickets favoured the spinners, so we adapted our side and I thought we adapted well as a side to play that type of competitive cricket, hence us finding ourselves in the top four. 

"This a different brand of cricket, the batsman can go out there and dominate against pace and spin. The pleasing thing is that we have managed to show we can match the faster-paced game or a high-scoring game," he said.

Moody said Dhawan and JP Duminy's presence makes their team world class. 

"There is no doubt that having Shikhar available for the whole tournament for all the matches is an incredible bonus. You know you are talking of a world class batsman. His form for the past 12 months or so has been as good as anyone in world cricket. 

"Suddenly when he comes in top of the order, you are a better side. JP, definitely adds a different versatility to our side because he bowls off-spin and complements the two leg spinners we've got."