Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were beaten by Gujarat Titans (GT) by six wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. However, one of the biggest talking points from the match was why Krunal Pandya did not bowl a single over in the second innings.
Krunal Pandya has been impressive with the ball this season. He has bowled in eight innings, taken nine wickets, and conceded runs at an economy rate of 8.85.
In the second innings, the defending champions used only four bowlers. They had initially hoped to use Rasikh Dar as their Impact Player. However, after suffering a batting collapse in the first innings, they were forced to bring in Venkatesh Iyer. That left them one bowling option short.
Even then, RCB chose to continue with just four bowlers. After the match at the post match press conference, when Bhuvneshwar Kumar was asked why Krunal Pandya was not used, he explained that the conditions were helping the seamers.
“I mean, good question. But if you look at the scenario, there was some help for the seamers and we had Rosario as the third seamer. So, we wanted to take our chance, and Suyash is someone who is not easy to pick. So, we wanted to get wickets as quickly as possible. That’s the reason he didn’t bowl,” Bhuvneshwar Kumar said.
“We couldn’t have won the match by just defending runs. We could have won by taking wickets, and the bowlers who bowled were the best options to get those wickets,” he added.
The match ended in 15.5 overs as Gujarat chased down the target of 156 with four wickets in hand. For RCB, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled four overs, gave away just 28 runs, and took three wickets. Josh Hazlewood went wicketless and conceded 56 runs in his four overs. Romario Shepherd picked up two wickets for 30 runs, while Suyash Sharma took one wicket and gave away 44 runs in his 3.5 overs.
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Royal Challengers Bengaluru are currently second on the points table with six wins and three losses from nine matches. They are level on points with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, but RCB are ahead because of their superior net run rate. Punjab Kings currently sit at the top of the table.
The defending champions will next face Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on May 7.
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