Krunal Pandya has always been one of the key players for the Mumbai Indians since 2016 when he was picked up in the auction.
Pandya, who is in the team as an all-rounder, feels that it is important for him to make contributions with both bat and ball. In the previous game against Gujarat Lions, he helped his side to restrict the opponents to an average score of 153 by picking up three wickets.
The Mumbai Indians franchise bought Krunal for Rs. 2 crores last year and he has repaid the faith that MI had in him by performing consistently.
The all-rounder from Baroda is capable of clearing the fence, just like his brother, and forms a strong foundation in the lower-order of the Mumbai Indians batting line-up. He finished IPL season 9 with 237 runs and picked up six wickets in the 12 matches that he played.
In the current season, his numbers have improved drastically – as he has picked 10 wickets with the ball and scored 136 runs in nine matches.
All of this was on display in his Man-of- the-Match winning show on Saturday night, when he claimed three for 14 against GL. Two of those three wickets – Ravindra Jadeja and Irfan Pathan – featured left-hand batsmen. His approach in Mumbai’s nervy chase against Lions was a case in point.
His 20-ball 29 kept Mumbai in the match even as they collapsed to eventually tie the game. Apart from the brilliant batting, he also helped to restrict the Lions to 154 runs by conceding only 14 runs in the first innings. In the super-over, his teammate Bumrah helped the team bag two more points with his excellent spell.
In the post-match press conference, he spoke about what he needs to do on the field,
“I feel I’m an all-rounder and need to contribute with the bat, ball and in the field. I need to think as a batsman while batting and as a bowler while bowling. It wasn’t an easy wicket, you couldn’t simply go and start playing your shots straightaway. I see what I can control and I think about a particular situation and how to handle it – whether bowling or batting.”
With superb depth and quality in batting, bowling and fielding, Mumbai surely seems like a contender for the title this season with some top notch performance. The path that Krunal has covered, it won’t take long if he continues this way to make a dream entry in the national side just like his brother.