IPL 2018: Kane Williamson has been a calming influence on team: Sandeep Sharma

Skipper Kane Williamson keeps Sunrisers Hyderabad calm under extreme pressure situations, says teammate Sandeep Sharma

Hyderabad, April 27: Sandeep Sharma, who took two wickets conceding 17 runs in Sunrisers Hyderabad's 15-run win over Kings XI Punjab in a low-scoring thriller, said the calmness of skipper Kane Williamson has rubbed off the team.

"Kane Williamson has been a very good influence. He is very calm. When you see him at the ground, he is always positive. Whenever we score low totals, he says to forget that.

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He asks us to focus on our bowling and taking wickets. If the leader is calm under such a situation, it increases our confidence," said medium pacer Sandeep.

However, Sandeep refused to underline any particular turning point in the match and said the Sunrisers bowling attack will be much stronger once injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns.

"There was no turning point as such. If it is a low total, every bowler needs to perform. We bowled well collectively. All of us are executing our respective roles. Because of that we have been able to defend low totals. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is currently injured, when he comes back we will be even stronger," said Sandeep.

Sandeep, who operates with the new ball, said he passed on the information to other bowlers in the side as he was able to assess the pitch early.

"I generally start with the new ball. So I am in a better position to tell my teammates about the way the pitch is behaving. I was telling them that the pitch is holding a little bit. So, slower balls will be effective rather than seam up deliveries. If you see the wicket of Chris Gayle by Basil Thampi, he also got out on a slower bouncer," said Sandeep.

R Ashwin lauded Ankit Rajpoots five-wicket effort for Kings XI Punjab — R Ashwin lauded Ankit Rajpoot's five-wicket effort for Kings XI Punjab

We fielded badly: Ashwin

It was a disappointing day for Kings XI Punjab skipper R Ashwin and he said dropped catches played a crucial part in the match.

"We fielded badly. Dropped too many catches for a 20-over game. If we had taken at least couple of them we could have restricted them to 20 runs less," said Ashwin.

Ashwin praised seamer Ankit Rajpoot, whose spell of five for 14 in four overs helped big way in restricting Sunrisers.

"Rajpoot is tall, nippy, gets the ball swing around, hit the good lengths in the first few overs. Not every day do you get five wickets in a T20 innings; he bowled pretty well. But, still we need to solve all the puzzles. Hopefully, those in whom we have great trust will come good soon," Ashwin said.

"Yes, we do have a finisher but [it's] not coming off. We want to get all the puzzles solved; it's a long tournament. Hopefully, some of the people we trusted will come good at the right time. That's how we keep going. They are quality players," he said.