IPL 2016: Krunal Pandya has been impressive, says Rohit Sharma

After making his debut against Gujarat Lions, Krunal Pandya has been on an impressive run, picking three wickets in as many matches and scoring 69 runs, which included an unbeaten 28-ball 49 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The 25-year-old was once again in the thick of things on Wednesday night as he picked up the crucial wickets of RCB skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Although, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma won the man of the match award, after playing a 44-ball 62, the skipper did not forget about the contribution from the older of the Pandya brothers and praised him for his ‘impressive’ performance in the post-match press conference.

“He (Krunal) has been impressive. Even in the first game he played here against Gujarat Lions, he did not get wickets but bowled four overs for just 20 runs and, then he did it with the bat in Hyderabad, scored 49 off just 25-26 balls and again today getting those two big important wickets in the middle (AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli) was very crucial from the team’s perspective,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference, reported PTI.

“I think he has got something about him, he knows his bowling really well and he understands the conditions really well, so it makes my job easier as a captain, he sets his own field which is I think very crucial. It shows that you have got lot of confidence into your bowling,” he added.

(Also, read the story of Krunal Pandya)

The MI skipper also stressed the importance of having the right team combination and said that the team’s theory of playing two overseas seamers helped them in the match.

“That theory (playing two overseas seamers) has worked for us over the years... that is something which will keep going and as far as our batting is concerned, it looks more settled with (Ambati) Rayadu batting at three and myself batting at the top of the order. We wanted Pollard to get back in form as quickly as possible and today was a perfect day for him,” Rohit added.