T20 2018: Hyderabad concentrating on improving, not qualifying, says Tom Moody

Hyderabad's Shikhar Dhawan (left) greets Delhi's Jason Roy as Chris Jordon (right) and Billy Stanlake look on in Hyderabad yesterday. Pic/PTI

Delhi have kept the danger of another early elimination at bay with two wins in their last three matches, but currently placed sixth on the points table, their chances continue to hang by a slender thread as they take on a confident Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium today.

Replete with young Indian batting talent that has been at the forefront of this mini-resurgence, Delhi have a long way to go before shrugging off the tag of a mercurial team. Furthermore, the pitch in Hyderabad has hardly been conducive to stroke-making, with three of the four matches so far producing low totals. Delhi have notched totals of 219, 198 and 196 in their last three matches, replicating which will require something special from the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. Delhi are also in dire need of their overseas recruits, especially the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Colin Munro to come good.

Tom Moody

Hyderabad, on the other hand have thrived in low scoring affairs. In their last three matches, Hyderabad have defended totals of 118, 132 and 151. The home team also seemed to have resolved their long-standing opening conundrum, with England batsman Alex Hales starting well against Rajasthan. Hyderabad are sitting pretty on top of the points table and a playoff spot seems within touching distance.

However, according to their head coach Tom Moody the focus of the team is to play the perfect game. "We are not focusing on qualifying, we are concentrating on improvement. The focus is very much on one the opposition we are playing against, the conditions we are playing in, and two how we can adapt and improve our game in those situations and that's how we're going to get the complete game that we are looking for," he said.

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