Royal Challengers Bengaluru spin bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya claims he doesn’t plan ahead when putting down his bouncers but instead follows his instincts to stay one step ahead of the hitters.
In Sunday’s IPL 2026 match in Mumbai, RCB defeated Mumbai Indians by 18 runs thanks to Krunal’s pitiful 4-0-26-1 spell. The Mumbai Indians lost their third game in four after finishing on 222/5 in response to RCB’s incredible 240/4.
“I have never shied away from trying different and new things because with the Impact Player rule, previously, you had No 6 or 7 as all-rounders and batsmanship was quite different. But now there are pure batters (coming in) at No. 8,” PTI quoted Krunal telling reporters after the match.
“… and plus the skill sets, young boys like Mukul (Choudhary) and Vaibhav (Sooryavanshi) are hitting from ball one consistently. As a bowler, I want to be one step ahead with the skillset and mental part as well.
“I am glad that it is coming out well and hope that in this format, there are finger spinners who survive and who can take something out of it and do well because for finger spinner with having flat tracks and eight batters, it has become very difficult,” Krunal added.
According to Krunal, there is no particular plan to deploy his surprise bouncer, which batters frequently leave alone, and he does not prepare them too much.
Everyone’s attention was drawn to the RCB spinner when he bowled a fast bouncer to Hardik, the younger sibling, who simply swayed out of the way.
“I am someone who follows my gut. I don’t pre-plan that I want to bowl the fourth or fifth or sixth ball (as a) bouncer. There are days where I will bowl two bouncers back to back and suddenly I will bowl first ball and the sixth ball,” he said.
“But yeah, it is more sort of gut feeling when to bowl which ball and I just commit 100 per cent to that. People tend to speak a lot about my bouncers and the balls which looks quite different and funny.
“… but I have always worked on the basics of my bowling and if you see I am tall and I have been able to get that bounce, I have (also) been able to get batsmen out with spin and deceiving in the flight,” he added.
After Virat Kohli missed the second half of the match due to an ankle injury, Krunal stated that the batting sensation should be “fine.”
“I have not spoken to the physio yet but I think he will be fine. I guess (there is) nothing to worry,” Krunal said.
Mumbai Indians batsman Sherfane Rutherford acknowledged that his team will need to start over following their third consecutive loss
“We always take the learnings. We need to go back to the drawing board and try and strengthen on the small margins. We are a good team and three games do not make us a bad team,” Rutherford said.
“It’s a long tournament, and in a long tournament, it’s not how you start but it’s how you pick up momentum. I think, moving forward, that will be the most important thing for us,” he added.
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