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Following the Punjab Kings' (PBKS) five-wicket triumph against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last night, their frontline bowler Mohammed Shami revealed the most important tactic a bowler can use to deceive a batter.
The Punjab pacer trapped KKR skipper Eoin Morgan in front of the wickets in the 16th over of their innings. He had put up a solid off-side field for Morgan and invited him to go over the midwicket and long on regions.
Morgan accepted the challenge and moved to the off-side to slam Shami over the on side. Shami's overpitched delivery, on the other hand, missed his bat and smacked his pads.
While conversing with his teammate Mayank Agarwal after the post-match presentation, Shami disclosed how he planned to bowl Morgan.
“In T20s, you need to have a big heart and a strong mind to bluff the batter. And I feel it is a very successful tactic. What happens is that the batsman starts thinking differently, like ‘there is a gap over there and I can hit the ball there’ (which is what happened in Morgan’s case). Bowlers should bluff sometimes,” Shami said in the interview posted on iplt20.com.
Shami also counselled young fast bowlers on how to bowl in death overs after his frugal performance of 1 for 23 in four overs against KKR.
Shami was expensive in the match against Mumbai Indians (MI) but he delivered for PBKS against KKR when it mattered. On speaking to his thought process of "how to bowl in the death overs" Shami said,
“I try to keep my plans simple. On some grounds, the boundary is bigger on one side as compared to the other. The thought process is that it is better to bowl a full toss than a half-volley at the death. That way your chances of being hit for a six are reduced. I give the same advice to the juniors in the team as well. In my mind, I am clear that I have to mix things up and play it smartly.”
The 31-year-old is even more optimistic about his team's ability to do well in the remaining games of the IPL 2021. PBKS are in fifth position with their win over KKR. They need to win their remaining two matches to have a chance to qualify for playoffs.
