Brian Lara has conceded that he was not able to come to “grips” with the rigours and emotions of the IPL in his first year as Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach as the franchise once again made an early exit from the tournament.

Defending champions Gujarat Titans became the first team to make the playoffs following their 34-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Monday. The result also knocked out the Lara-coached side who still have two more matches left.

“First of all, it’s my first year (as head coach of an IPL side)...,” Lara said in the post-match media interaction.

Lara indicated that understanding the nitty-gritties in his first year was difficult. “Not getting to grips with the emotions of going through an IPL season, especially when we were back to travelling to different venues and finding out different surfaces,” the 54-year-old said.

“Our last year was based on 3-4 venues, so there is a huge difference in that,” he added.

“As a coach, an appreciation of how much you have to pay attention to what’s going on is a meticulous task to get things right continuously,” Lara said.