As Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) are set to play the match on Thursday (October 1), MI bowling coach Shane Bond has stated that it would be important to put pressure on the KXIP captain KL Rahul.
Bond is wary of KL Rahul’s ability to score runs from all through the ground. He is well aware that in the past editions as well, Rahul has taken on MI’s bowler. As in the ongoing season, the KXIP opener is in the terrific form, Bond has planned to dismiss him earlier.
Shane Bond opines tactic to beat KL Rahul:
The former New Zealand pacer said that the MI bowlers should not concede runs to Rahul during middle-orders so that he can be under pressure and give away his wickets.
“KL Rahul has got runs against us in the past, he is a brilliant player. Look we know he is a dynamic player and he scores all through the ground. We also know that he takes his time during the middle overs. So it will be an opportunity for us to create pressure on him if he gets that far in his innings against us. In the end, we cannot allow him to score runs he is strong at,” Shane Bond pointed.
The bowling coach is confident that his team is ready to face KXIP in Sheikh Zayed Stadium as they have already played two matches there, winning one match.
“We have a quality bowling attack so we have to put him under pressure. We are confident with our batting lineup, we have scored runs in all our matches, we are aware of the conditions as we have played two matches here,” he added.
Rahul register highest ever score by IPL captain:
KL Rahul has been a big contributor to help KXIP set big targets. Against RCB, he registered the highest score by IPL captain, scoring 132 off only 69 balls. In the next match against Rajasthan Royals, Rahul amassed 60 runs. Subsequently, in both the matches, KXIP was successful in setting above 200 runs target. So, his wicket will be pivotal for MI to get them close to victory.