Krunal Pandya was the difference between the two teams at the end of the match and emerged as the hero for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the big final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3.
Krunal was introduced into the attack in the seventh over by Rajat Patidar, just after the powerplay, when PBKS’ score was 52/1. In his first over, he gave away just three runs. On the third ball of his second over, Krunal deceived Prabhsimran Singh in the air, and the ball took the outside edge of the right-hander’s bat and was caught by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. In that over, Krunal conceded just four runs and took a wicket.
On the first ball of his next over, Josh Inglis hit him for a six, but Krunal held his nerve, made an excellent comeback, and gave away just one run in the next five balls to complete the over. On the first ball of his last over, Krunal got the wicket of Inglis, who was looking very dangerous at the time, and then conceded just three more runs.
“Today also I realised if I have to take a couple of wickets, I have to be brave.” – Krunal Pandya
So, Krunal’s spell of four overs produced only a single boundary for PBKS. It was during this phase that PBKS fell behind in the match. Krunal finished with figures of 2/17 in his four overs, at an economy rate of 4.20. PBKS’ captain Shreyas Iyer also acknowledged that Krunal’s spell was the turning point of the match. Krunal was adjudged the Player of the Match.
Shreyas Iyer: “They bowled brilliantly, especially Krunal, he carries a lot of experience. I believe that was the turning point.”
Krunal: “When we batted in the first innings, I was sitting outside and chatting with batters, I realised the slower you bowl the better. But in this format as a bowler you need guts to do that because the margin of error is small. I just backed myself and thought that if I’m able to vary my pace and keep it more on the slower side, I’ll create chances rather than just coming and firing it in. What has been my biggest strength is learning what the situation requires. I’ve always backed my gut and instinct.”
“Today also I realised if I have to take a couple of wickets, I have to be brave. If you would’ve bowled quick on that surface, it would’ve been a good batting wicket. But if you varied your pace, there was some help. In the second innings it got better as well compared to the first innings. When I joined RCB I said that I loved winning trophies. After three-and-a-half months, glad I was able to fulfil what I said on Day 1. Been pretty good – 10 years, 4 IPL trophies. Told Hardik also on the phone, there will be 9 IPL trophies in the Pandya household in 10 years,” he concluded.
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