After winning their first three matches in the VIVO IPL, 2016, the Gujarat Lions tasted their first loss, at the hands of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in a home game. It was a big loss too, as after being restricted to 135 for 8, they failed to take a single opposition wicket. With the exception of Suresh Raina, who scored 75 off 51 balls, the Lions’ batting succumbed meekly to the Sunrisers’ bowlers. Their coach, Brad Hodge, rued the lack of application from the willowers, but, however, welcomed the team’s first loss in the season as a chance to introspect and learn. Here is Brad Hodge’s chat with IPLT20.com First loss of the tournament but it is bound to happen in such long tournament. We have had a great start to the tournament; we won our first three matches. There are so many good teams in the competition and you are bound to lose one along the way. Yes, we got fairly comprehensively beaten tonight but it is great because there are a few learning curves for us along the way. We have a great side with wonderful match-winners. On such a wicket you’d expect more from the batsmen? Definitely. I don’t think they applied themselves as best as they could have. Apart from the captain, who looked in a different class today, the rest of them struggled a bit or played a bit too flamboyantly at times, and we gave away wickets easily. That can happen in T20 cricket where you back yourself, and we can adjust that. Is it a bit worrying that the team is depending a bit too much on Finch? Not really. We have McCullum, Raina, Bravo, DK, Jaddu in our ranks. Not all of them have had many opportunities because Aaron has fired at the top. As you mentioned, this is a long tournament and there are a lot of matches to go. I am sure each one of them will step up at a given time. Over the years we have seen that new IPL teams take some time to gel as a unit before they start winning. But the Lions have hit the ground running. How have you managed that as a coach? It was one of the biggest challenges when I took this job. I knew that it was always going to be a difficult task. I was involved with the Kochi Tuskers when they came on board, and so I had an understanding of what works and what doesn’t. I just tried to put that in action, and so far it has been good. The side has gelled well. We have got to keep it going. You won the first three matches chasing. This was lost batting first. Is that an area that needs to be addressed? Not really. We were looking to bat first today. We thought the wicket would slow down. We just didn’t bat well enough. Had we scored 165-170, it would have been enough on this wicket. The trend that teams chasing have been winning could be because of some of the venues – M Chinnaswamy is a small ground and it is hard to defend a total and Mumbai gets the dew. These are the grounds where you would want to chase. I think as the tournament goes on, the wickets will dry up and this mentality will change. What is your take on Raina as captain? I think his strength is that he is a very calm human being. He has been under Dhoni for quite a while and he gets that relaxed persona on the field from him. He never gets too flustered, which is good for his troops out there. He understands the game well and I think he has wonderful knowledge of the game. Of course, this is his first chance to captain in the IPL but he has led the UP team a number of times and has been around a number of good captains. He has certainly stepped up to this role and has come out of the shadows of those captains.