Krunal Pandya, who was named Player of the Match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 18th version closing in opposition to Punjab Kings, revealed that he known as his brother Hardik after the sport and cited that the Pandya family has 9 IPL trophies in 11 years.
Krunal, who Bengaluru acquired for ₹5.75 crore, unleashed each weapon from his fully-loaded arsenal within the high-stakes closing and left the spectators spellbound and returning with figures of two/17 in his four-over spell. He single-handedly broke the spine of Punjab’s try and search out the 191-run goal and steered Bengaluru to a six-run triumph and RCB’s first IPL trophy victory.
While receiving the Player of the Match award, Krunal spilt the beans about the conversations he had with his brother Hardik and reminded him about the variety of IPL titles they’ve had within the final decade.
“When I joined RCB, I said that I loved winning trophies. After three and a half months, glad I was able to fulfil what I said on Day 1. Been pretty good – 10 years, 4 IPL trophies. I also told Hardik on the phone that there will be 9 IPL trophies in the Pandya household in 11 years,” Krunal mentioned within the post-match presentation.
In his memorable outing, Krunal returned with the priceless scalps of Prabhsimran Singh (26) and Josh Inglis (39) to derail Punjab’s makes an attempt to chase the goal. The trick behind Krunal’s success was deceiving the batters by various his tempo and having the “guts” to execute it as a result of it leaves the bowler with no margin of error.
“When we batted in the first innings, I was sitting outside and chatting with the batters. I realised the slower you bowl, the better. But in this format, as a bowler, you need guts to do that because the margin of error is small,” he mentioned.
“I just backed myself and thought that if I’m able to vary my pace and keep it more on the slower side, I’ll create chances rather than just coming and firing it in. What has been my biggest strength is learning what the situation requires. I’ve always backed my gut and instinct,” he added with 25 scalps in 15 matches at a mean of 19.52, greatest figures of 4/41.
Published – June 04, 2025 05:22 am IST
