IPL 2021: KL Rahul explains why Ravi Bishnoi did not play the first few games
KL Rahul won the Man-of-the-Match award for his fantastic batting performance in his team's win over the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021. The Punjab Kings captain led his team from the front with a 60-run knock at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The Punjab Kings bowlers also brought their 'A' game to the table versus the Mumbai-based franchise. Ravi Bishnoi, who played his first game of the season, bowled an impressive spell of 2/21.
Bishnoi had done well for the Punjab Kings in IPL 2020 as well. However, the Mohali-based franchise benched him in the initial games of this season.
KL Rahul disclosed at the post-match presentation that the team management wished to tweak a few things in Ravi's bowling, which was why he was out of the XI.
"He (Ravi Bishnoi) unfortunately missed the first few games. He has been working really hard with Anil bhai and there were a few things that he needed to correct. He's been somebody who is brave, that's very good to see for a spinner," KL Rahul said.
KL Rahul was delighted with Ravi Bishnoi's performance against the Mumbai Indians. It is unlikely the Punjab Kings will exclude him from the playing XI now.
KL Rahul reflects on his decision to bowl first in Chennai
The Punjab Kings raised a few eyebrows by winning the toss and electing to bowl first. Many teams have preferred batting first in Chennai. Even Rohit Sharma mentioned at the toss that he would have batted first had he called it right at the toss.
However, KL Rahul decided to bat second, and when asked about his decision, the Punjab Kings skipper replied:
"Me and coach had a long chat about batting second. I felt that the wicket was sticky and the first few games, we batted first, and I felt like the bowlers were always under pressure, and it is important that they bowl on a wicket like this early. We had heard there's a lot of dew at night. It was our first night game here. First game we played here was in afternoon, so we didn't really know how much dew, but watching games from Mumbai, we knew there's going to be a lot of dew."
KL Rahul expected the wicket to improve a bit in the second half but that did not happen. Still, the Punjab Kings captain was happy that they knew the total they had to score on the sticky surface in Chennai.