1 week ago
1
Veteran all-rounder Krunal Pandya credited mentor and batting manager Dinesh Karthik for Royal Challengers Bengaluru's improved batting attack aft his gritty sound against Mumbai Indians kept the broadside successful the hunt and knocked the five-time champions retired of the IPL playoffs race.
Battling terrible cramps and batting virtually connected 1 leg, Krunal smashed an unbeaten 73 disconnected 46 balls successful a tense pursuit that RCB sealed disconnected the last delivery.
Krunal said Karthik's behind-the-scenes enactment with the batters implicit the past 2 seasons has played a large relation successful shaping the side's batting performances.
"If you look astatine past twelvemonth and adjacent this year, contempt the ups and downs, a batch of recognition goes to DK," Krunal said astatine the post-match property league connected Sunday (May 11, 2026).
"He has spent a batch of idiosyncratic clip with each player, knowing their strengths and weaknesses and moving connected them. He's ever determination for the batters. So yes, there's nary uncertainty a batch of recognition goes to DK for however we've batted arsenic a unit."
The left-hander revealed that RCB's clarity successful unit situations stemmed from elaborate readying astir match-ups and execution successful crunch moments.
"We've discussed that if there's 1 bowler you fancy and consciousness you tin instrumentality down, conscionable play retired those six balls properly," Krunal said.
"In that situation, I was set. I was in. And I realised it was becoming precise hard for maine to tally ones and twos due to the fact that of the cramps. So I thought, 'okay, fto maine conscionable basal and look each six balls' and capitalise connected immoderate I can."
Krunal, who has batted successful aggregate positions passim his IPL career, said helium enjoys taking work successful hard situations. "I consciousness bully that the squad trusts maine to bash antithetic roles," helium said.
"Whenever I bat, I inquire myself what the concern is and what the squad needs astatine that moment. I've ne'er focused connected idiosyncratic milestones. I ever effort to recognize the squad concern and however to attack it successful the simplest mode possible.
"And, honestly, nevertheless pugnacious the concern is, determination I bask it."
RCB yet scrambled the 2 runs required disconnected the last shot to implicit a melodramatic win, with seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar besides making a decisive publication with a important first-ball six successful the past implicit aft earlier delivering different effectual new-ball spell of 4 wickets portion giving distant conscionable 23 runs.
