Mumbai, April 13 (IANS) Following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) 18-run victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium, all-rounder Krunal Pandya shed light on the tactical execution that helped swing the game decisively in his side’s favour.

In a match dominated by explosive batting performances earlier, it was RCB’s control through the middle overs that proved crucial. Krunal, operating in tandem with young leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, played a key role in slowing Mumbai’s chase just when it threatened to gain momentum.

“I just wanted to be one step ahead and keep the batsman guessing and that worked for us. And yes, Suyash bowled really well. Taking those two wickets in (his) first over changed the momentum. And I always believe bowling is about partnerships. And we were able to do that for the team, which was quite satisfying,” Krunal said of the overs 7, 8, 9 and 10, which the duo bowled.

Mumbai had started strongly in pursuit of a daunting 241, but Suyash’s double strike, removing key batters, shifted the balance. Krunal emphasised that the young spinner’s growth has been a product of consistent behind-the-scenes work.

“He (Suyash) has been getting better. I’ll give a lot of credit to Malolan (Rangarajan), who is our spin-bowling coach. He has been constantly working with Suyash in the off-season as well as during the season. He is always having conversations with him. And credit goes to Suyash that he has been able to adapt to things and he has been able to be consistent as a bowler, which always helps in a game where batters are taking you every ball,” he said.

The match started as a high-scoring affair, with RCB accumulating 240/4 thanks to quick half-centuries from Phil Salt and Rajat Patidar, while Virat Kohli provided stability with a reliable fifty. However, Krunal highlighted that modern T20 strategies, particularly the Impact Player rule, have considerably increased the challenges faced by bowlers.

“I have never shied away from trying different and new things. Because if you see, with the impact player rule, previously without an impact player, you had No. 6 allrounder or No. 7 allrounder. Batsmanship was quite different. But now, having eight pure batters and the skill set, you see young boys like Mukul and Vaibhav, so many of them are just coming and hitting from ball one consistently. So again, as a bowler, I always want to be one step ahead with the skill set as well as with the mental battle as well,” the spinner stated.

Krunal also spoke about his evolving methods, including the occasional use of bouncers, a rarity for finger spinners, as he looks to stay unpredictable in a format dominated by power-hitting.

“Whether it’s me bending my knee and bowling a bouncer, I’m glad that it is coming out well and hope that in this format, there are fingerspinners who will survive and who can take something out of it and do well in this format. Because for fingerspinners, with flat tracks and eight batters, it has become very difficult. I don’t pre-plan that I want to bowl a fourth- or a fifth- or a sixth-ball bouncer.

“There are days where I’ll bowl two bouncers back-to-back, and suddenly I’ll bowl the first ball and a sixth ball. So there are no such plans. But yeah, it’s more sort of a gut feeling when to bowl which ball and I just commit 100% to that. I’ve been able to get batsmen out with spin and deceiving flight. I don’t practise that much where I go and bowl bouncers. It is just I bowl in the game,” he mentioned.

Although Mumbai made a late push, the middle-overs pressure from Krunal and Suyash kept the required run rate rising. Ultimately, this phase, characterised by control, variation, and effective partnership bowling, was crucial in securing RCB’s third victory of the season.

–IANS

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