Lucknow, May 7 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya said his bowling plans against quality batters are centered on trusting himself to bowl his best delivery so that batters can’t hit him for boundaries on small grounds.

Pandya has picked nine wickets in as many games at an average of 26.55 and an economy rate of 8.85 in IPL 2026. He is again expected to play a crucial hand with the ball when defending champions RCB take on the Lucknow Super Giants at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Thursday evening.

“On grounds like Wankhede or Chinnaswamy, especially Chinnaswamy, the boundaries are small. So, I tell myself that if I bowl a bad ball, it will go for a six, whether it is 80 meters or 50 or 60 meters. Sometimes that creates a negative thought when the boundary is small.

“So, I take the boundary size out of my mind. I know that if I bowl a good ball, the batter won’t be able to hit it even 30 yards. So, I think that way: if I bowl my best ball, they won’t be able to hit me even on a small ground,” Pandya said on JioStar’s ‘Superstars’ episode.

Quizzed on his bowling plans against quality batters like Heinrich Klaasen and Shreyas Iyer, Pandya said it hinges on him putting them under pressure with a mix of relentless control and force to make a mistake on ground.

“My approach depends on the situation. Sometimes I need to attack, other times I need to choke the runs. My main thought is always about bowling the best possible delivery for that moment. Heinrich Klaasen loves taking on spinners. Against batters like him, the better balls you bowl, the more dot balls you create, and the higher your chances of forcing a mistake.

“You can’t just keep attacking mindlessly. Sometimes, when a dangerous batter is at the crease, you have to go for the wicket and take a risk. It all depends on the game situation. Shreyas Iyer is also a very good player of spin. Against quality batters like him, where the margin for error is small, my thinking is always the same: how can I make them hit to their weaker areas?

“For example, if a batter scores easily over covers, how can I force him to hit over mid-wicket? If he likes to slog sweep, how can I make him hit over long off? That has been my game plan against most batters, including Shreyas,” he explained.

On adding bouncers and yorkers to his bowling repertoire, Pandya stated that he honed them to stay one step ahead of modern batters. “If you follow the IPL closely over the last 10 years, the striking ability of batters has changed drastically. Today, the power-hitting is constantly evolving. The new-age batters coming in have an insane ability to clear the ropes with ease.

“So as a bowler, I have realised that you have to add variety to your bowling arsenal. You must stay one step ahead of the batter. That is how bowling bouncers and yorkers came into the process. It was not that I suddenly woke up one day and started bowling bouncers as a spinner.

“It was a very well thought out plan, understanding what a bouncer does psychologically to a batter. Being a batter myself helps me think like a batter. I always try to stay one step ahead of the batter in terms of thought process and then focus on how to execute my skill,” he concluded.

–IANS

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