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- 'They are free spirited players. They are natural stroke-players and I don't want to certainly take that away from them. But we certainly just have to have a little watchful in our shot selection and adapt to the conditions a little bit better.'
Gujarat Lions coach Brad Hodge claimed there are quite a few 'areas of concern' in his team. He was particularly miffed with the tendency of his spinners to bowl no-balls at crucial junctures and also his top order giving away wickets cheaply in the early overs.
The Lions lost their second successive game, against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday, though they continue to top the points table.
"If you are 3 for 20, losing three of your best batters upfront, you're going to be in trouble. Same (as) what happened the last game," Hodge said.
"In the last game against Kings, Axar (Patel) took a hat-trick. Couple of balls didn't even turn. We lost three wickets in an over. And again, three wickets in seven balls with three of our best batters (against Delhi). Wickets in powerplay... something that we need to look at," the former Australia batsman said after Lions' eight-wicket defeat against Delhi.
Hodge was peeved at how no-balls cost his side dear.
"Unforgivable, unforgivable" he said.
When Ravindra Jadeja overstepped to reprieve Sanju Samson, who was stumped in the 16th over, it was the second such let-off in three games.
"Who knows what could have happened if that was given out for Sanju. Next ball he gets a free hit, the ball goes for a boundary, game over. If you are just going to let your guard down for a moment, you are going to be found out. Hopefully, we can dust ourselves off and adjust with the differences and the indifferences that we have and come again strongly. I would certainly hope that these last two games hurt very much."
Hodge did not sound satisfied with the pitch at their home ground-- the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, in Rajkot .
"It was not ideal. I must say the surface exactly wasn't what we were looking for. It is a little disappointing," he said.
"This is your home ground, you expect a little bit better. But having said that, you cannot use that as an excuse. The opportunity was there."
Gujarat Lions boast of an explosive batting line-up including the likes of Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Suresh Raina among others but all of them failed against Delhi.
Coach Hodge backed his top-order but feels they could be a little careful in their shot selection.
"They are free spirited players. They are natural stroke-players and I don't want to certainly take that away from them," he said.
"But we certainly just have to have a little watchful in our shot selection and adapt to the conditions a little bit better.