Krunal Pandya: I don’t pre-plan or practise my bouncers but rely on gut feeling

Soon after checking into the team hotel in Mumbai on Saturday, Krunal Pandya settled into a chair and briefed his hairstylist to “do something different”.

After all, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder was gearing up to face his alma mater — and a side led by his younger brother.

The makeover took 90 minutes, and the result — call it what you will — certainly stood out. It drew curious glances from opponents and fans alike. But while the hairstyle grabbed eyeballs, it was Krunal’s on-field craft that truly made a statement.

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Greeting Hardik Pandya with a surprise bouncer, mixing slinging deliveries with his conventional left-arm spin, and varying his pace cleverly, Krunal showcased his uncanny knack for improvisation. His spell of 4-0-26-1 ensured Mumbai Indians was never really in the hunt while chasing the stiff 241-run target set by RCB at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night.

“I have never shied away from trying different and new things. With the Impact Player rule, previously, without an impact player, you had No. 6 and No. 7 as all-rounders. Batsmanship was quite different, but now, having eight pure batters plus the skill set. You see young boys like Mukul (Choudhary), Vaibhav (Suryavanshi), so many of them are just coming and hitting from ball one consistently.”

Krunal admitted that evolving his skill set has helped him retain relevance in a format increasingly tilted towards the batters.

“As a bowler, I always want to be one step ahead with the skill set as well as with the mental battle. It (variation) has just purely come from that. Whether it is me bending my knee and bowling that ball or a bouncer,” Krunal said.

“I am glad that it is coming out well and hope that in this format, there are finger spinners who will survive and who can take something out of it and do well in this format. Because, for a finger spinner with flat tracks, eight batters, it has become very difficult. I am glad that I have been able to contribute in a nice way.”

The 35-year-old, the only cricketer to win the Player of the Match award in an IPL final twice, also revealed that the bouncer is more instinct than strategy.

“I am someone who follows my gut. I don’t pre-plan that I want to bowl a fourth or fifth, or sixth ball a bouncer. There are days when I will bowl two bouncers back-to-back, and suddenly I will bowl the first ball and the sixth ball. So, there are no such plans, but it is more sort of a gut feeling when to bowl which ball, and I just commit 100 per cent to that,” Krunal said.

“I don’t practise that much, where I go and practise bowling bouncers. It is just that I actually bowl in the game. But yeah, I have been bowling consistently for a long period of time.”

As long as Krunal continues to blend artistry with adaptability, RCB — and perhaps even the fans — won’t mind more “different” hairstyles.