Dinesh Karthik Praises Krunal Pandya’s Impact on RCB
Dinesh Karthik has expressed strong admiration for Krunal Pandya, highlighting the all-rounder’s crucial role in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s impressive performance in the IPL 2026 season. As RCB prepares to face Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 27, Karthik emphasized that Krunal is a player who will leave a lasting impression.
Krunal has consistently been one of the standout performers for RCB over the past two seasons. His all-round skills have provided the team with much-needed stability, especially during high-pressure moments. This year, however, his new bowling technique has taken the cricketing world by surprise.
Krunal’s Unique Bowling Technique
Karthik believes that Krunal’s bowling style is truly special and has redefined what it means to be a finger spinner in T20 cricket. He noted that the short-pitched deliveries Krunal bowls would have been unimaginable a few years ago.
Karthik stated:
“Krunal Pandya is a player that this game is going to remember for a long time. He’s doing something that has not been done before, pushing the boundaries of what finger-spinner means. He’s bowling deliveries that people really couldn’t fathom a few years ago and he’s becoming a master at it and he’s using it very cleverly when the situation demands and he’s using that as a strength of his to put pressure back on the person that he’s bowling against.”
He added:
“It’s actually quite interesting to see how he goes about it mentally as well. He’s not someone who’s just doing it because it looks cool. He knows that given the moment when he does want to use it, it does create a doubt in the batter and a lot of the times delivers the result that he wants out of that ball.”
A New Trend in T20 Cricket
Krunal’s innovative approach has already sparked a trend in T20 cricket. Mitchell Santner, for example, adopted a similar tactic when he bowled a short ball to Shivam Dube during a match between MI and CSK at Wankhede stadium.
Krunal Explains His Strategy
After RCB’s victory against MI, Krunal explained the reasoning behind his unconventional bowling method. He pointed out that the current state of the game has made it more challenging for bowlers, especially finger spinners.
Krunal said:
“I have never shied away from trying different and new things. Because if you see with the impact player rule, previously, without an impact player, you had a number six all-rounder, a number seven all-rounder. Batsmanship was quite different, but now having 8 pure batters, plus the skill set. You see the young boys like Mukul, Vaibhav, so many of them are just coming and hitting from ball one consistently.”
The RCB all-rounder added:
“So again, as a bowler, I always want to be one step ahead with the skill set as well as with the mental battle as well. It has just purely come from that. Whether it is me bending my knee and bowling that ball or a bouncer. 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 finger spinner with having flat tracks has 8 batters, it has become very difficult. So yeah, I am glad that I have been able to contribute in a nice way.”
Instinct Over Planning
Krunal also mentioned that instinct plays a larger role than pre-meditation in his decision-making on the field.
Krunal concluded:
“I am someone who follows my gut. I don’t pre-plan that I want to bowl a 4th or 5th or 6th ball bouncer. There are days where I will bowl two bouncers back-to-back, and suddenly I will bowl first ball and a 6th ball. So there are no such plans that I want to bowl. But yeah, it is more sort of a gut feeling when to bowl which ball, and I just commit 100% to that.”
RCB Aims for Three Consecutive Wins
With their recent success, RCB is looking to extend their winning streak by securing three consecutive victories. Their next challenge is against Delhi Capitals, and fans are eagerly anticipating the clash.
