Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Krunal Pandya revealed his mindset behind bowling a bouncer out of the blue to Kolkata Knight Riders record-signing Venkatesh Iyer during the tournament opener of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. In the 12th over of the first innings, Venkatesh took the crease without wearing a helmet. Krunal smartly tried to bowl a bumper. Venkatesh spotted it early and managed to stay out of the line. For the next ball, the southpaw wore a helmet and tried to use his wrist but ended up dragging the ball onto his own stumps.
"If it's a wide yorker or a bouncer, or if you have something in your armoury, why not use it?" Krunal said in the post-match presentation.
Before luring Venkatesh into making a mess, the 33-year-old caught the big fish, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane. The seasoned star was going berserk by sweetly timing the ball towards the boundary line.
Rahane fell into Krunal's ploy and skewed it flat into the hands of Rasikh Salam, confirming his return ticket to the dressing room with a score of 56(31).
He concluded his match-winning spell by outwitting Rinku Singh with a quicker delivery. The southpaw went for a big pull, but the ball skidded past his bat and crashed into his stumps.
Krunal finished with figures of 3/29 and was adjudged the Player of the Match for his stellar display with the ball. He shed light on his approach, which allowed him to thrive against a star-studded batting unit.
"When you play against so much crowd, I had to narrow down my focus. If I get hit I had to get hit off a good ball, glad that I could deliver. You have to go with the flow, how cricket is evolving. Batters have the skill set to hit sixes consistently," he said.
"You also have to up your game to make sure I bowl quicker. Change of pace is associated with pacers but also I tried it. (on his bouncer) Now Jitesh knows what I will do," he added.
Krunal was acquired by RCB from Lucknow Super Giants during the mega auction for Rs 5.75 crore. He shared his experience of the limited number of days he spent with the franchise and described it as "amazing."
"It's been amazing. When I got into the team, I realised how much madness there is. The crowd support you get, even in domestic cricket, there also people are chanting RCB. It's been 10 days since I joined, and it's been pretty good," he concluded.
Krunal's heroics forced KKR to limp its way to 174/8. In reply, RCB's destructive opening pair of Virat Kohli and Philip Salt set the tone for a successful chase. They raised a 95-run opening stand to lay the foundation of an emphatic 7-wicket triumph.
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