He doesn’t have 5-6-7 different weapons in his quiver where the ball traverses in different arcs to befuddle his opponent. He doesn’t give the ball a fair amount of rip in order to impart considerable revs on the ball. Unlike a spinner from a bygone era, he doesn’t lure the batter into a trap with delicious flight. Yet, Krunal Himanshu Pandya turned out to be one of the vital cogs of RCB’s epochal triumph in the 2025 Indian Premier League. It wasn’t just about all the wickets that he took. It was about how he made an impact during crucial junctures of RCB’s successful campaign. None more so than in the final against Punjab Kings.
In the summit clash, just consider the four deliveries that he bowled to Prabhsimran Singh in his second over. The first offering was shorter in length and zooming in on the stumps. The second one was on a good length and once more targeted the sticks. The third one was fullish in length. By then, one could sense that Prabhsimran was frustrated and the big shot was coming. After all, he was scoring at a strike rate of just over 100.
The predicted event happened as per the script as Prabhsimran skipped down the deck, only for Krunal to watch the feet of the batter till the nth moment. He tossed it up, gave no room for the right-hand batter to free his arms and all that Prabhsimran could do was spoon a catch to the fielder at covers.
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Another facet of Krunal’s game in the just concluded IPL was his ability to keep a lid on the scoring rate while bowling to left-handers. It is a known fact that a left-hand batter would prefer the matchup of a left-arm orthodox spinner bowling at him/her. Kurnal, however, proved to be different. To excavate information related to his bowling smarts versus left-hand batters, let’s revisit the final.
In his third over of the innings, Krunal went round the wicket and fired one on the left-handed Nehal Wadhera’s front pad, resulting in a dot. The next one was again bowled with a flatter trajectory, with the line being middle and off-stump. The third offering’s line was slightly outside off and Nehal pinched a single. Just that all those dots took its toll on Josh Inglis.
Here, too, one could imagine Inglis attempting a big shot. The in-form batter danced down the track, but Krunal bowled one at over 100 kph and provided no width. All that Inglis could do was loft one to the fielder stationed at long-on. Just notice how Krunal went up from 80 kph while bowling to Prabhsimran to over 100 kph in a matter of a few deliveries. For Prabhsimran, who was looking out of sorts in that innings, he slowed it up in the air. For the in-form Inglis, the trajectory was flatter. It told us something about Krunal’s clarity of thought and self belief.
No wonder, Krunal was adjudged the player of the match for his game-breaking spell of 2 for 17 from four overs. Even in some of the earlier games, Krunal put on game-changing performances. Who can forget Krunal trying bouncers in front of a sea of blue at the Wankhede Stadium? Here was a cricketer who was prepared to throw the kitchen sink at the batter. There was also a league game versus PBKS where he finished with redoubtable figures of 2 for 25 from four overs. Moreover, even with the bat in hand, Krunal essayed a crucial fifty while facing Delhi Capitals in a league game.
Before this season, Krunal had never taken more than 12 wickets in an IPL season. This time, he plucked 17 scalps to become one of the fulcrums of the RCB camp. His economy rate of 8.23 was the second best among left-arm spinners. And he did all of that by adhering to the simple basics of bowling. Some turned a little more, and some not at all. Some were fired in on the stumps, and few others tossed up. A few deliveries were bowled with a higher release, and some others with a flatter trajectory. In simple words, a masterclass in bowling smarts, that would be echoed for generations by RCB’s beloved fans.