"Why would you bowl a slower ball?" - Deep Dasgupta on Jofra Archer's plans against Virat Kohli in RCB vs MI IPL 2023 match
Former cricketer Deep Dasgupta has pinpointed two turning points from the recently concluded match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2023).
RCB completed a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over MI at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, April 2. Dasgupta opined that Mumbai's Jofra Archer dropping Virat Kohli proved to be very costly for Rohit Sharma and Co.
Questioning Archer's tactics, he suggested that the speedster should have avoided bowling a slower one when Kohli was beaten by a full-pace delivery on the previous ball.
The cricketer-turned-commentator pinpointed left-arm seamer Jason Behrendorff's second over as the other turning point, where Faf du Plessis accumulated 16 runs.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after the RCB vs MI match, he said:
"I thought there were a couple of turning points, Jason Behrendorff's second over, Faf du Plessis was absolutely brilliant, and then the drop catch. Jofra Archer dropped a catch, and after beating Virat Kohli with a normal back-of-length ball, why would you bowl a slower ball?
"Bowed a slower, stepped out, six, and then never looked back. I thought those two overs, Behrendorff's second over and Jofra's first over, those two were very, very important points in the game."
Too easy for RCB 🙂
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Notably, Archer put down a difficult chance off his own bowling to give Kohli a big reprieve. The RCB batter drove it straight back to the bowler on the pacer's first ball of the match.
However, Archer couldn't get down in time. While he did get a hand to it, he failed to gather it. Kohli made the most of the chance, remaining unbeaten on 82 to see his side through.
"His focus is clearly just purely T20 cricket" - Tom Moody on RCB captain Faf du Plessis
During the same discussion, former Australian cricketer Tom Moody stated that Faf du Plessis' T20 game has improved significantly lately, as he doesn't have the added pressure of playing the other two formats.
Here's what he said about the RCB skipper's recent performances in the shortest format:
"He is the ultimate professional, and his focus is clearly just purely T20 cricket. So now he's got his eyes right on that target and he's wanting the best version of himself in that format.
"He hasn't got the distractions of captaincy of South Africa, hasn't got Test cricket as a distraction, or 50-over cricket. He's clearly got a lot of pride in his performance and the way he presents himself physically, which is enabling him to play the play that he is playing."
Moody further noted that du Plessis has made it evident that he is willing to up the ante right from the start, elaborating:
"I think he's always had the game, but he's just decided that he's just got the belief and confidence that this is how I want to present myself as a top-order player. I know that certainly that right from junior cricket onwards, he was always compared alongside AB de Villiers as the two brilliant proteges coming through South African cricket."
Faf du Plessis won the “Player of the Match” award 🫡
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Du Plessis was named the Player of the Match against MI for his exceptional knock. The veteran batter took the Mumbai bowlers to the cleaners, mustering 73 runs off 43 deliveries.