Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended their drought at the Wankhede stadium as they defeated the Mumbai Indians for the first at this venue since 2015. While there were a lot of architects of this victory for RCB from Virat Kohli to skipper Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya turned out to the hero for visitors as he restricted from getting to the total of 222 runs by just giving away 7 runs in the final over of the match.
While RCB and MI is a rivalry in itself, another rivalry was slowly playly in the background, one between two brothers: Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya. While Hardik batted beautifully against brother and hit him for a couple of big shots, Krunal had the last laught in the end as he hid not allow his brother’s franchise from getting to the finish line.
‘Only one Pandya was supposed to win’
Speaking after the match to broadcasters, Krunal said, “The bond that we (Hardik and I) have, we knew there was only one Pandya that was supposed to win, the love and affection we have for each other is very natural. He (Hardik) batted really well and I feel for him, but we (our team) won and that is most important. When I came onto bowl, Santner was batting and leg side was shorter and the amount of games I played here in the last 10 years, at some point the experience had to come in. As a bowler, sometimes you want to commit and it is important to commit 100 percent and it helps in execution.”
Notably, Krunal was expensive in the first three overs, taking just one wicket while giving away 38 runs but the left handed bowler employed bouncers and fast deliveries (reaching even 120kmph) to restrict the MI batters from playing big shots and that trick did the job for his team.
Rajat Patidar as captain has been terrific, says Krunal:
After the match, Krunal was also appreciative of the captaincy skill showed by new skipper Rajat Patidar, saying, “Rajat has been terrific in the way he has started and he gives you the confidence and backs your game plan as well. He is very calm and does not complicate things,”
Meanwhile, the skipper was also equally impressed with his star bowler as he credited his team’s spinners and pacers after winning the match.
“The way Krunal has bowled was amazing. In the last over, it was not easy, I think the way he has bowled and the courage he has shown is amazing,” Patidar said after the match.
