Defending a modest 149, Rana was the sufferer of RR opener Yashasvi Jaiswal‘s onslaught as he smashed the part-time off-spinner for 26 runs with two sixes and three fours that set the tone for RR’s win in simply 13.1 overs right here on Thursday.
“With a lefthander (Jaiswal) at the crease and him being an offispinner I don’t think it was a wrong option,” Venkatesh identified on the post-match media interplay. The determination appeared baffling as KKR had in-form spinner in Varun Chakravarthy (17 wickets) however Venkatesh mentioned it was extra to do with match-ups.
“We all know what he’s capable with the bowl. He has picked crucial wickets in his career. Unfortunately, it didn’t go in our favour, had he picked up the wicket (of Jaiswal), it would have been a captain’s masterstroke. These things happen on the field.”
Terming Rana an “unbelievable bowler”, Venkatesh elaborated extra on the contentious name.
“The wicket was holding a little bit and was on the slower side. We wanted to exploit the spin with the new ball.
“It did not work out so the questions. But Rana is an unbelievable bowler, he has come up and picked wickets wherever he bowled with economical bowling. One recreation wouldn’t make him a nasty bowler.”
Hailing RR’s fielding effort, Venkatesh further said Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma’s spectacular catches dragged them back.
While Hetmyer dismissed Jason Roy with a well-judged running and jumping catch at square leg boundary, a diving Sharma took a blinder at midoff to bring an end to Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s brisk start.
The opening duo was dismissed in Trent Boult’s successive overs in the powerplay.
“Both of them have been good pictures and nice catches. They simply saved round 20-odd runs on the sphere which in T20 is unbelievable. Two wickets and two new batters on the pitch which was not simple to bat that is the place I believe we slowed down.
“I would take the responsibility of playing a lot of dot balls there. I should have rotated more, phase was owned by Rajasthan,” Venkatesh mentioned about his sluggish begin.
‘It felt Jaiswal batted on a unique wicket’
RR’s younger opener Jaiswal hit the quickest IPL fifty en path to his 98 not out (47b) on a tough wicket.
“The wicket didn’t change much. It’s just that Jaiswal batted unbelievably. The way he played every ball we had no answers to his onslaughts,” Venkatesh hailed.
KKR vs RR IPL 2023 Highlights: Yashasvi Jaiswal propels Rajasthan Royals to victory
“It felt for us that he’s batting on a different track altogether because no other batters found it easy there, so credit to him.
“It’s the number of pictures he hit, efficient and nonetheless orthodox. There was only one reverse hit, relaxation all have been orthodox cricketing pictures. He is a person in type, an incredible batter,” Venkatesh added.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com