Plan was to restrict David Warner with tight bowling, says Ankit Rajpoot

04/09/2019

Ankit Rajpoot has stated that the plan was to restrict David Warner by bowling tight lines in his team KXIP’s encounter against SRH. The young pacer was also delighted to play his second match on a green wicket as it helped him complement his strength which is generating swing.

The opening duo of Sunrisers Hyderabad are in a terrific form, and they could have easily taken away the match from Kings XI Punjab. But the Ashwin-led side did not let that happen, as Jonny Bairstow was dismissed in the second over by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. David Warner did stay till the end but was tied to the ground all along in his 62-ball innings, as he could only manage 70, not something which can be digested. Pacer Ankit Rajpoot was delighted to have bowled as per the plans as he only gave away 21 runs in his quota of four overs.

"The plan was to block his runs by bowling a tight line. I did not give him the opportunity to play to his strength," Rajpoot said, reported PTI.

The Kanpur lad was only playing his second match of this edition, as KXIP have played most of their matches on slow pitches assisting spinners, until now. Rajpoot justified his skipper’s decision by stating that the team is formed as per the conditions.

"As my ball swings, I was given the responsibility to exploit the conditions. In other matches, we had flat or slow-turner wicket, so it was not that helpful. Here the wicket was green and I was given opportunity. The combination was not there (in the earlier matches). However, in this match the combination worked as we played Mujeeb and an Indian bowler had to fit in, therefore, I played,” the 25-year-old explained.

The pacer has been around in the Indian Premier League for a while now, and the Punjab-based franchise is his third team in the league. But he has never been a regular feature in any of the sides, having only played 21 matches since 2013. He has encountered such instances in the past and asserted that he was ready to play all the matches. He also credited his skipper Ravichandran Ashwin and coach Mike Hesson for their support.

“But there was no pressure as I was ready to play every match, I had the support of my captain and coaches," he signed off.

KXIP will next take on Mumbai Indians tomorrow at the Wankhede stadium.