“They bowled cleverly and really well,” acknowledged Siddharth Kaul. The Sunrisers Hyderabad seamer was accounting for Rising Pune Supergiant’s fine showing, which throttled the home side’s chase in their Vivo IPL match at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium on Saturday evening.
Asked how things were faring for him personally, the bandana-wearing bowler said, “Touchwood, everything is going well. I’ve been able to execute the team’s plans.”
With Ashish Nehra in and out of the team often was it putting pressure on him to perform ? “Nehra being in the squad is a positive point. I am keen to perform whenever there is an opportunity,” the paceman from Pathankot said.
Asked what was the preferred option in his bowling armoury, Kaul said he had been consistent with yorkers in the seven games he had played so far.
Was SRH fielding not sharp enough ? “Even good fielders drop catches but we have been fielding well in most of the matches,” he countered. The team was still positive because losing was a part of the game, he added.
Shardul Thakur was all praise for Ben Stokes as a catalyst in the visiting team’s victory. “He has been delivering in the middle, contributing with both bat and ball,” said the Mumbai medium-pacer.
To him the turning point was the dismissal of David Warner. Since things could tilt either way in the death overs, the exit of Yuvraj Singh was also vital. With 41 runs to be got in four overs it was still 50-50. Otherwise it was mostly plus for the Pune squad. “Figuring out how the wicket plays was important,” he said, rather than bowlers following a sequence in the attack.
