Wriddhiman Saha played a remarkable 87-run knock in merely 45 deliveries as he made a comeback to the Sunrisers Hyderabad XI against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday. Saha replaced Jonny Bairstow as wicketkeeper-batsman and opened the batting alongside captain David Warner.
Warner also stepped up for the side after having a largely quiet tournament with the bat so far, as he scored 66 off 34 balls.
Talking to teammate Rashid Khan in a video after the match, Saha said that he wanted to play freely.
"I had a lot going through my mind on how to approach my batting when I played my first game of the season. But yesterday I didn't think that much. I talked to David, he told me to play freely," Saha told Rashid.
"We took the chances initially and we carried the momentum."
Saha and Warner added 107 runs for the first-wicket partnership in merely 9.4 overs. "David started to get the middle of the bat after two or three overs, so I paused a little bit. David played really good. I took over when David was dismissed," said Saha.
Rashid Khan also heaped praise on Saha's innings, saying that it was "one of the best" he had seen in the season so far.
"We haven't seen an innings like this in IPL this year. It was one of the best innings I've seen in this IPL so far," Rashid said.
The leg-spinner also registered the best figures of IPL 2020 in terms of economy rate, as he picked up three wickets while conceding only 7 runs in four overs.
"(I did) Nothing special. I only focus on bowling my best, regardless of the runs on the scoreboard. I bowled with such good economy in this game so this was the best thing for me. Quite happy to be the one to have the best figures in IPL so far," Rashid told Saha when asked about his preparation ahead of the game.
With the win, SRH stay alive in the race for the playoff spot in the tournament. SRH are currently sixth in the table with 10 points from 12 games but face a tough test in their final two matches, as they take on two of the top-3 sides -- RCB (October 31) and MI (November 3).
