Aaron Finch, the top run-getter for Gujarat Lions (393), insisted on Friday that his team was not surprised by the cameo from Bipul Sharma, who cracked an 11-ball 27 in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s four-wicket win here.
“I don’t think he took us by surprise,” said Finch. “We knew that he could hit some big sixes. We probably expected him to get David (Warner) on strike but he played a beautiful knock in his own right. But no one ever takes you by surprise. You see so many players; you see so many games in this tournament that you are very rarely caught off guard. But that was some beautiful striking as well and probably just a little bit of mis-execution a couple of times. But like I said, at the end of the day, you have to take your hat off to a great team. They performed beautifully and that’s the third time they have beaten us, so they probably had the wood over us unfortunately.”
Exciting prospect Finch picked Shivil Kaushik, the unorthodox left-arm spinner, as an exciting prospect. “We have seen an unusual spinner in this tournament in Shivil. He has been outstanding for us. Anyone who can bowl with an unusual action like that and who can spin the ball both ways is a huge asset and he has been outstanding. It was beautiful the way that he bowled tonight, under pressure in a big game, to come back into the team after a few games out, just shows a real lot of character and someone who hasn’t had cricket given to him easily. He has had to work very hard for what he has achieved. He was outstanding, he was great all season and I think he can play a big part going forward.”
