The shadow of IPL spot-fixing might still be looming large but Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid feels his team has “moved on” and has “no hangovers” from last edition which saw S. Sreesanth being arrested and subsequently handed life ban by the BCCI.
“I don’t think we have a hangover from last season. We have put that behind us at the end of last season. There had been some issues (disciplinary action against Sreesanth and others) but that has been resolved. For the 15 members and support staff in our squad, we have resolved it much before,” Mr. Dravid told mediapersons after beating Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the CLT20 group opener last night.
“We spoke about it (spot-fixing episode) when we came here. We discussed and acknowledged that it (spot-fixing) had happened and we decided to move on. This team has moved on and now we would like to put up a good show for our fans,” he said.
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Talking about the match, Mr. Dravid lauded his players for showing a lot of professionalism during the run-chase. “There was calmness and professionalism during the chase. Our batsmen didn’t panic and got the job done. Mumbai Indians are a good side and it’s a terrific way to start the tournament.”
Not having any specialist spinner in the starting XI was an “instinctive decision”, according to Mr. Dravid.
“The wicket was under cover due to rain and was a bit damp. So I took a last-minute decision to go with an all-pace attack. Normally, it is nice to have spinning option but then I had Ashok (Menaria) in the side. Ashok has been bowling well in recent times and I knew that I can get a couple of overs out of him.”
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The legendary batsman was all praise for his bowlers, especially Himachal Pradesh’s Vikramjeet Malik, who provided Royals with a couple of breakthroughs at the start.
“Vikram bowled well upfront while Jimmy Faulkner was brilliant as usual. Kevon (Cooper) had an off-day but that can happen,” the skipper said.