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After Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill, Delhi Capitals’ (DC) KL Rahul has understood the need to maximise the powerplay overs. After the win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) where he was adjudged ‘Player of the match’, Rahul said that he would have liked to face more deliveries in the powerplay overs. While Gill’s opening partner Sai Sudharsan wasn’t that explosive in the powerplay overs before going on to score his century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Rahul’s opening partner Pathum Nissanka didn’t waste deliveries during the fielding restrictions.
“I was hoping I could get some more balls in the powerplay. But the way Pathum batted, there was not much for me to do. I just have to stand on the other side and watch how he was smoking the ball. The way he batted, put us right in front of the game. That's what we expect of the powerplay. We tend to attack you early. They're a really good team that wins games in powerplay with bat and ball. With the ball as well, I think we started really well with the bat as well. It gave us the start that we needed in a 220 game,” Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
Rahul lauds Nissanka for maiden IPL fifty
Rahul faced 13 deliveries in the powerplay overs. On the other end, Nissanka completed his maiden IPL half-century from 23 deliveries. DC were 70 for no loss after powerplay overs in the run chase of 226. Rahul lauded the Sri Lankan opener for his explosive 33-ball 62 in the 110-run partnership.
“There's not a lot of conversations that we have, but, just reminding each other to play proper cricket shots and be as aggressive as we can in the powerplay. That's about it. And, he's batted really well this season in the games that he's gotten, but he couldn't get past those 40s, And I think, getting a 50 in the IPL, his first IPL season will definitely give him a lot of confidence and hopefully he builds from there and keep giving the team these starts,” Rahul said.
Rahul’s impactful knock and the strike rate improvement
Rahul went on to score 75 runs from 40 balls, including six fours and five sixes. When he departed, DC were 177/3, needing 49 runs from 28 balls with seven wickets in hand. He talked about how he has improved his strike rate in an attempt to meet the needs of the evolving T20 game.
“The strike rate. I think it was a big talking point for a few years. So that's something that I've really worked on. So I'm happy that I've worked on that and I'm doing what's required for the team, number one, and doing what modern T20 cricket requires. And yeah, that's something that's pleasing for me,” the opener said.
Rahul leads the orange cap race
This was Rahul’s 17th POTM award of his IPL career. He is leading the orange cap race. From nine innings, he has scored 433 runs at an average of 54.12 and strike rate of 185.83. He has a century and three fifties to his name in the season so far.
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