“We have to accept that this IPL is different.”
Varun Chakaravarthy explained it well. He was commenting during Kolkata Knight Riders’ easy seven-wicket victory against Delhi Capitals at Eden Gardens, which was a throwback to the days of mediocre totals.
Coincidentally, there was a little bit in the pitch for the spinners, which Varun took full advantage of on his way to bowling figures of 4-0-16-3. The victory not only provided a respite for him in an otherwise uneventful season, but also for his team, which had previously failed to defend a target of 262. It was the largest run chase in T20 cricket.
“The last two matches before this, we didn’t defend that well,” Varun admitted. “Because the wickets have become very placid in the second innings and definitely the fact that we got to bowl in the first innings was good. The pitch was also a little helpful.
“The other pitches have also been slow but this pitch was a little bit more turning. That was the difference. The length is basically the same for all the matches. It’s just how the wicket behaves. In other matches, it was not giving this much help but this wicket gave and helped our bowlers.”
Varun discussed how the team returned from a disappointing setback in their previous game and secured a key victory in their next.
“So that has been the trend and if you see Eden Gardens, everyone wants to post big totals and they have a positive intent. I can’t say that it’s wrong but I feel our bowlers in the powerplay, they bowled brilliantly. like how Starc and Vaibhav bowled. So, we have to give it to our bowlers this time,” Varun said.
“If they would have scored 190 or 200… I felt it was around 185 to 190 pitches; if they had scored that anything could have happened.”
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