Mumbai Indians allrounder Krunal Pandya praised his brother Hardik and said that the allrounder worked on improving his game when he was away from cricket due to injuries and controversies over a chat show appearance. Speaking after Mumbai’s win over Delhi Capitals at Feroz Shah Kotla, the left-arm spinner said, “When he was away from the game due to injury and the other reasons (controversy), he worked a lot on his fitness. We started playing the game together and one thing that I can say that cricket has always been his priority.”
Mumbai Indians allrounder Krunal Pandya praised his brother Hardik and said that the allrounder worked on improving his game when he was away from cricket due to injuries and controversies over a chat show appearance. Speaking after Mumbai’s win over Delhi Capitals at Feroz Shah Kotla, the left-arm spinner said, “When he was away from the game due to injury and the other reasons (controversy), he worked a lot on his fitness. We started playing the game together and one thing that I can say that cricket has always been his priority.”
“Honestly, there are very few players who have a work ethic like him. His goal is always to improve and if you do that, you become consistent,” he added.
Hardik smashed 32 runs in 15 balls and registered figures of 1/17 in 2 overs as Mumbai defended the total of 169, picking up a 40-run win. The 26-year was named as man of the match.
“Earlier he used to smash spinners, now he is also doing the same to pacers. He worked on that area during the off time he got and he has gotten the desired results,” said Krunal.
“What like I most about is never give up attitude. Every year, he is adding something or the other to his game. In fact, I have also a learnt a lot from him,” he added.
Krunal also smashed 37 off 26 balls and recorded figures of 1/7 in his 2 overs. “I guess while batting it was a very tricky wicket. When I went inside and when Hardik came in we were not aiming for 170, we thought 145 was a good total on this wicket. The way Hardik batted, it changed the momentum for us and we ended up with those extra runs,” he said.
“While bowling we knew how the wicket would behave and our bowlers knew to how to bowl on it,” he added.
Speaking about his attempted slingshot action during the game, the wrist-spinner said: “The way T20 is going, you have to keep coming up with something new. The batsmen are hitting sixes from ball one and Rishabh (Pant) was batting, so I thought it was a good time to try something new.”
Our middle order needs to fire: Pravin Amre
After the defeat, Delhi Capitals scouting head Pravin Amre said that the middle-order needs to fire. “It is very important to win at home as well. We have won game so far (the super over one against KKR). The last two games, we did not do well in the Powerplay, the positive in this game was that we did very well in Powerplay (48/0),” Amre said.
“It is the middle overs which really cost us and it is one area we have to work on. If we can play the spinners well in the middle overs, it will be very important,” he added.
Speaking on Pandya’s innings, he said: “Hardik played a crucial knock. It was a 150-wicket and they managed to get an extra 18-run cushion.”
Talking about the pitch, Amre said: “I think if you see the away games, in Mumbai we scored more than 200 runs. When the bounce is there it suits our batsmen. We know this Kotla wicket. It is very important how we adapt with this. The way Shikhar (Dhawan) started was outstanding. He read the wicket very well today. It is just in the middle overs our batsmen have to rise up.”
On being questioned why DC did not play an additional spinner, he said: “We wanted to be consistent with our selection. Ishant Sharma has doing well for us in the Powerplay. We wanted to go with the same combination. It is just the last four overs, we conceded too many runs.”
“Honestly, there are very few players who have a work ethic like him. His goal is always to improve and if you do that, you become consistent,” he added.
Hardik smashed 32 runs in 15 balls and registered figures of 1/17 in 2 overs as Mumbai defended the total of 169, picking up a 40-run win. The 26-year was named as man of the match.
“Earlier he used to smash spinners, now he is also doing the same to pacers. He worked on that area during the off time he got and he has gotten the desired results,” said Krunal.
“What like I most about is never give up attitude. Every year, he is adding something or the other to his game. In fact, I have also a learnt a lot from him,” he added.
Krunal also smashed 37 off 26 balls and recorded figures of 1/7 in his 2 overs. “I guess while batting it was a very tricky wicket. When I went inside and when Hardik came in we were not aiming for 170, we thought 145 was a good total on this wicket. The way Hardik batted, it changed the momentum for us and we ended up with those extra runs,” he said.
“While bowling we knew how the wicket would behave and our bowlers knew to how to bowl on it,” he added.
Speaking about his attempted slingshot action during the game, the wrist-spinner said: “The way T20 is going, you have to keep coming up with something new. The batsmen are hitting sixes from ball one and Rishabh (Pant) was batting, so I thought it was a good time to try something new.”
Our middle order needs to fire: Pravin Amre
After the defeat, Delhi Capitals scouting head Pravin Amre said that the middle-order needs to fire. “It is very important to win at home as well. We have won game so far (the super over one against KKR). The last two games, we did not do well in the Powerplay, the positive in this game was that we did very well in Powerplay (48/0),” Amre said.
“It is the middle overs which really cost us and it is one area we have to work on. If we can play the spinners well in the middle overs, it will be very important,” he added.
Speaking on Pandya’s innings, he said: “Hardik played a crucial knock. It was a 150-wicket and they managed to get an extra 18-run cushion.”
Talking about the pitch, Amre said: “I think if you see the away games, in Mumbai we scored more than 200 runs. When the bounce is there it suits our batsmen. We know this Kotla wicket. It is very important how we adapt with this. The way Shikhar (Dhawan) started was outstanding. He read the wicket very well today. It is just in the middle overs our batsmen have to rise up.”
On being questioned why DC did not play an additional spinner, he said: “We wanted to be consistent with our selection. Ishant Sharma has doing well for us in the Powerplay. We wanted to go with the same combination. It is just the last four overs, we conceded too many runs.”