Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Trevor Bayliss said New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson was left out of their opening IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders as he needs more time to be match fit.
Batting at number four, Williamson had scored 317 runs in 11 innings for SRH last season, while Bairstow was equally impressive with 345 runs after opening the innings in the previous edition in the UAE.
“We just felt that Kane needed a little bit of extra time to get match fit and a little bit more time in the nets,” Bayliss said in the post-match press conference after SRH lost to KKR by 10 runs on Sunday night.