Klaasen Dismisses Over-Reliance Claims on ‘Travishek’ After SRH’s Loss to LSG
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen dismissed suggestions that the team is overly reliant on openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma following their defeat to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 27. The duo, popularly known as “Travishek” among fans, played a key role in SRH’s journey to the IPL 2024 final, amassing 736 runs in 16 innings before the LSG clash.
SRH struggled as Abhishek fell in the third over with just 15 runs on the board, while Head scored 47 off 28. They posted 190, but LSG chased it down with five wickets in hand.
After the game, Klaasen dismissed concerns of overreliance on the openers, highlighting SRH’s batting depth till No. 8. He acknowledged Head and Abhishek’s impact but noted it’s unrealistic to expect them to score 1000 runs in a season.
“Not at all. If you look at our batting lineup, we have firepower all the way down to No. 8. It’s not necessary for Travis and Abhishek to perform every time we are capable of putting up good scores even without them. When they do fire, it puts pressure on the opposition and makes things easier for us. But you won’t see a season where both of them cross 1000 runs; that’s just how we play taking calculated risks. Still, we have experienced players who understand that we need to step up ourselves when required,” said Klaasen.
Klaasen further stated that SRH has enough quality players to post big totals even when the openers don’t fire. Reflecting on the defeat, he admitted that the team fell short of a par score on a batting-friendly pitch, estimating that 210-220 runs would have been ideal.
“We just didn’t score enough runs. A total of 210-220 would have been a par score. A couple of dismissals were unlucky one caught down the leg side and another deflecting off the bowler’s hand onto the stumps. That’s part of the game, but on a good batting track, we should have scored more,” he added.
SRH will look to bounce back in their next game against Delhi Capitals on March 30 in Vizag.
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