Lucknow: Lucknow Super Giants all-rounder Krunal Pandya on Friday said taking time off to work on his bowling has put him in a good head space and given him a lot of clarity.
Krunal starred with the bat and the ball in LSG’s five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match here on Friday.
“This year I’m in a good headspace. Once you have clarity up there, things fall in places. I’m very process-driven, don’t think about results,” he said at the post match presentation.
“I took a break from cricket for a few months because I was just playing the white-ball formats, so wanted some time off to work on my bowling.” Krunal snapped three wickets giving away 18 runs before playing a vital 34-run knock.
“What happened last two-three years was I kept getting wider and wider. Whatever I did in the last 3-4 months — getting taller and getting the ball to turn away, it is all coming out really well.” He dismissed SRH skipper Aiden Makram with a lovely spinning delivery which hit the off stump.
“People say I don’t turn the ball, so that answers it I guess (Markram wicket). I’m trying to recollect how I played in the first 4-5 years in IPL where I was batting at four for MI. Trying to find that rhythm and consistency. Having the clarity helps,” said Krunal.
No brainer to bring in spinner early ====================== Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul said it was a “no brainer” to bring in spin early after seeing the conditions.
Rahul introduced spin early in the game as his slow bowlers, led by Krunal, wrecked havoc.
“We’ve been here for a couple of weeks now and knew what we were getting into (nature of the pitch),” Rahul said.
“Even when Jaydev (Unadkat)bowled a few cutters, it was gripping. So it was a no-brainer to bowl spin early. I knew KP’s (Krunal) better in the powerplay.” Rahul said his side’s batters have adapted well to the conditions at the Ekana Stadium.
“First instinct when I saw both pitches was that we’ll need to bat smartly here. We’ve adapted well as a batting unit.” Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who grabbed two wickets and took a marvellous catch, said he bowled slower to limit the runs.
“I am feeling good. I have done a lot of hard work on my bowling and fielding. I was just trying to vary my pace, and bowl slower. I know if I bowl faster it is easy to score for the batters. I try to vary my bowling. I try to do everything efficiently.
Talking about the red soil, he said it aided the spinners.
“I think the red soil has more bounce and less spin. I can’t say much about the black soil. It is keeping low but not turning much.” SRH skipper Aiden Makram felt his side were a good 30-40 runs short as they were unable to stitch substantial partnerships.
“Not enough runs, tried to get to 150-160 but lost too many wickets and didn’t get any momentum going. We realised it wasn’t going to be a great wicket to bat in terms of history, but we were happy to fight. They bowled brilliantly according to the conditions.” PTI .
