Not Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Josh Hazlewood, Head coach Andy Flower picks RCB's 'most important pick' in IPL 2025 mega auction

Not Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Josh Hazlewood, Head coach Andy Flower picks RCB's 'most important pick' in IPL 2025 mega auction
Krunal Pandya of Royal Challengers Bengaluru celebrates the wicket of Nitish Rana of Rajasthan Royals during the 2025 IPL match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals

Story Highlights:

RCB defeated RR by 11 runs.

RCB head coach Andy Flower hails Krunal Pandya.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower believes that spin bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya was their most important pick in the mega auction that happened last year. RCB spent 5.75 crore to buy Krunal Pandya for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. 

Krunal is playing an important role in RCB's wins in IPL 2025. He is the main reason behind RCB's dominance in the middle overs throughout the season. During their last outing against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at batting friendly Chinnaswamy pitch, RR attempted to pull off a 206-run heist, but Krunal dented their hopes heavily by striking on his first ball to remove the stand-in captain, Riyan Parag. It wasn't his usual quicker delivery but a slowed-up variation that turned and induced a top edge from Parag's attempted slog sweep that flew in Jitesh Sharma's gloves.

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"Krunal was a very important pick for us in the auction. We liked his all-around capabilities, but also his experience. He has experienced winning the IPL, he has experienced captaining in the IPL, and he has played international cricket. He also has got fire in his belly, and I really like that. Obviously, both brothers do. So he was an important pick for us in the auction," Flower told reporters in the post-match press conference.

When RR again tried to make a comeback, needing 72 off 40 balls, Krunal picked Nitish Rana's wicket. Flower credited the franchise's spin bowling coach, Malolan Rangarajan, who has worked closely with Krunal and devised different tactics that the 34-year-old has been able to deploy to achieve success.

"I think he has done some good work with our spin coach. I think he is an excellent all-round coach. I think they have some good conversations about the tactics that Krunal is employing. They have been working well together. It is great to watch him operate like that," he added.

 

After defeating RR, RCB are currently third in the points table tally. The Rajat Patidar-led side will now face Delhi Capitals (DC) in their upcoming clash which will take place at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on April 27.