Kane Williamson, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, has come out and stated that he is proud of the way his men played in this edition of the Indian Premier League. He finds losing last night's final, frustrating to finish second in but hails the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings as the deserving winner of the competition.

On the big night of the final, Sunrisers Hyderabad were able to post a stiff looking 178 on the board but they came across one of the most destructive T20 innings that a batsman can play, as Shane Watson hammered the opponent bowlers for a belligerent 117 off 57 balls to take his team home, with 8 wickets intact and 9 balls still remaining.  

After the match, a disappointed Kane Williamson was heard saying, "We thought it would be a very competitive total. It was a good surface but the slower balls were holding. Hats off, Shane Watson comes and gets 120 not out in the final. It's frustrating, but CSK were deserved winners. They certainly showed their experience,"

There is a reason why Sunrisers Hyderabad should be proud of their efforts this season. They are perennial dark-horses of the IPL but what stood out was a young team having to go through the transition to another leader at the start of the season, playing an admirable brand of cricket to reach the final of the toughest T20 league in the world.

Williamson is proud of his boys and he also talked about his experience of captaining the side this year. He said, "A new bunch of guys in SRH, a great bunch of guys in the unit. Showed great character. It was a great experience leading this side, shame that we couldn't win the final, but there are a lot of positives. Every team is trying to find the balance between bat and ball. No doubt having a quality bowling attack with bowlers who can control the death overs and also the likes of Rashid are all great assets to have. It's always a struggle to find the balance and you are always compromising in one or two areas. But that is one of the joys of the decision making that you are part of,"

The modest man was absolutely brilliant with the bat and in the field with his tactical nous for the team but he is glad to have contributed.

"As a team we look back fondly on the season. It's a collective effort from the team. I enjoy the captaincy and it was nice to contribute to the team with the bat personally,"

Indeed, Sunrisers Hyderabad should be proud of what they've achieved this year.