Krunal Pandya : I was fully confident that I would go to Mumbai Indians

The mega-auction for the upcoming season of the IPL concluded yesterday which broke some players’ dream but it turned out to be a lucky one for some players as well. Krunal was one among the latter group who was fortunate to be the highest-paid uncapped all-rounder when Mumbai Indians used their Right to Match card option to get him back in the mix by paying INR 8.8 crores. After that, the 26-year-old stated that he was confident about the fact that he will don the Mumbai’s blue jersey once again. 

“Honestly I was expecting it because the way I’ve performed in the last two seasons, I was expecting somewhat this amount. But I’m even happier to be a part of Mumbai Indians again. And also, playing with Hardik would be one more thing,” Krunal told Hindustan Times.

“To be honest, it wasn’t half. I was fully confident that I would go to Mumbai Indians and they’ll use the Right to Match card for me.”

In the last season of the league, Krunal played 13 matches in which he had scored 243 runs and bagged 10 wickets while his brother Hardik featured in 17 games scoring 250 runs while picking six wickets. And thanks to that performance, the defending champions didn’t want to take the risk of leaving anyone of the duo this year. Krunal is hopeful that he would recreate last season’s performance along with his brother.

“Me and Hardik have played together so that’s an added advantage for the team and for us as well. We have been playing together since childhood so we know each other’s game as well. At the same time, we mostly bat between positions 4 and 6 and I know (Kieron) Pollard very well. So it’s good if the three of us are playing together,” Krunal said.

Ahead of the India-South Africa series, everyone was looking forward to Hardik’s performance and he stood tall by playing a 93-run knock and bagging three wickets in the first Test in Cape Town but in the next two games, he failed to score as he added only 25 runs in four innings and got out by playing careless shots.

“If you see his first Test match he did well with both the bat and the ball. He got run out and he realized it was his mistake. The positive side is that he scored runs when India needed. He didn’t get that many overs but whatever he got he bowled well. I know he got out due to his mistakes, but there was nothing wrong with his technique, he wasn’t looking out of his zone. So the only thing that he needs to improve is his shot selection. He has the technique to play overseas and I feel he’ll only improve,” Krunal suggested.