VVS Laxman Impressed On Krunal Pandya’s Bowling Skills
Feb 10, 2019 at 3:04 PM
After India suffered a thrashing 80-run defeat against New Zealand in the Wellington T20I, Krunal Pandya’s brilliant bowling effort helped the side to win the Auckland T20I and level the series. The former Indian Test specialist batsman VVS Laxman has praised the Indian all-rounder for his brilliant effort in Auckland T20I.
As a left-arm spinner, Krunal Pandya dominated over the visiting batsmen during the Auckland T20I. He had the bowling figures of 4-0-28-3 while the host side only managed to score 158/8 at the end of first innings. In reply, the visiting team easily chased down that target in 18.5 overs after losing just two wickets.
The 27-year-old Krunal Pandya’s smart bowling impressed VVS Laxman.
VVS Laxman recently wrote for TOI, “Krunal Pandya struck the decisive blows, showcasing his smartness. He is not the conventional left-arm spinner who will deceive batsmen in the air, but he creates artificial angles with his use of the crease, and hustles batsmen with changes of pace. His dismissals of Colin Munro and Kane Williamson were indicative of someone who puts a lot of thought into his bowling.”
Elaborating Krunal Pandya’s wickets in Auckland T20I
The left-arm spinner came to bowl in that during the last over of the powerplay in New Zealand innings. In that over, he bagged two wickets and provided a perfect start for the team.
At first, he dismissed the Kiwi opener, Colin Munro, for just 12 runs after Rohit Sharma took the catch at cover. On the last ball of that over, he trapped Daryl Mitchell (1) for the lbw. However, it was a controversial decision as the TV umpire failed to recognise an inside edge during the DRS.
In his next over, Krunal Pandya picked the big wicket of Kane Williamson (20) and once again it came through the lbw. His bowling effort put the host side into trouble as they were battling on 50/4.
Talking about the dismissals of two important Kiwi batsmen, VVS Laxman added, “Sensing that Munro was itching to take him down the ground or to the on-side, he went wide of the crease from round the stumps and bowled the ball wide of off-stump, forcing the left-hander to go over the offside. Kane loves to play off the back foot, and while Krunal did pitch the ball short, he got it to skid off the surface and hasten on to the New Zealand captain far earlier than he anticipated.”
Krunal Pandya’s progress as a bowler is a healthy development going forward
VVS Laxman likes Krunal Pandya’s all-rounder skills. The former Indian cricketer also praised the left-hander’s batting skill. Moreover, VVS Laxman feels that Krunal Pandya’s progress as a bowler creates healthy development for the side.
He added, “In my eyes, Krunal is an all-rounder who can bat anywhere from No. 5 downwards. He is a powerful striker of the ball and has won matches off his bat in the IPL, and his progress as a bowler is a healthy development going forward.”
With this victory, India levelled the three-match T20I series against the hosts New Zealand by 1-1 with one to go. On Sunday (10 February), they are going to play the third and final T20I of the series at Hamilton.