Chennai Super Kings middle-order batsman Subramanium Badrinath on Thursday expressed the desire to bat up the order, after playing a key role in his side's 13-run win against Pune Warriors India. Badrinath has played the role of sheet anchor since the first season, keeping the scoreboard moving while the rest go after the bowling.

“Being a batsman in the team, I would definitely love to bat up the order. It was a good day for me, so I’m happy about it. It’s always good to get some runs under the belt and get myself going.”, he said. Badrinath scored 57 off 48 balls to take Chennai off to a solid start.

He was promoted as opener in place of the out-of-form Murali Vijay, and played his role to perfection by putting on a 116-run stand with Faf du Plessis. Both the openers initially found it tough to break the shackles as they hardly went past a run-rate of eight an over. However Badrinath expressed that the wicket was slightly on the slower side.

“Me and Faf decided to stay on as the wicket was slow and the ball wasn’t really coming on to the bat. We knew that if we have wickets in hand in the last five overs, we could easily score 50 to 60 runs. We got a good partnership going and we set a good target.” he was quoted by IPLT20.com

On Thursday, Chennai played on the same wicket, which they had used for the thrilling match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, wherein they had chased down 205 with a last-ball finish. “The wicket was the same, but it didn’t play the same [way]. The ball was stopping and there was a little bit of inconsistent bounce. There was some dew in the latter part of the match and the ball started coming on. I think 160 was good on this wicket but due to the dew, it got a little easier for them in the second innings.” He further added.

Despite of turning up as an opener Badrinath maintained that he usually plays to stay throughout the innings, but also added that his role does change according to the situation. “When you bat up the order and play in the powerplays, it is important to go after the bowling and get some runs and set up a good base for the batsmen coming lower down the order. Having said that, we have a strong batting line up with some good hitters and my role definitely is not to go there slam bang, but [to] try and assess the situation and play accordingly.”

Even after posting a formidable total, Pune Warriors India had almost chased down the target before they lost momentum in the 19th over when Doug Bollinger bowled a tight over and picked up a crucial wicket of Steven Smith, to keep things in check. This over according to Badrinath sealed the match in favor of the defending champions.