IPL 2018: Sunil Gavaskar Urges RCB Bowlers to Test KKR Batters With Short Ball Strategy

The former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar wants Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bowlers to test Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batting line-up with short pitch stuff.

However, Bangalore franchise has had their perennial issues with their bowling line-up.

KKR’s opener Sunil Narine has had great success while playing against the Bangalore team. Meanwhile, it is well known that Windies all-rounder has his problems while facing the short ball.

Knight Riders talismanic batsman Robin Uthappa plays a short with control and Chris Lynn is also a good puller of the ball.

But, in this regard, Royal Challengers can include New Zealand paceman Tim Southee, who has the ability to pamper these batsmen with some short ball ploy.

RCB Bowling has been their Achilles Heel –

Gavaskar wrote in his Times of India column, “Losing three top-order wickets to the short ball could well mean that the Royal Challengers bowlers will try the same tactic against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Sunil Narine loves the ball pitched up at him and he smashes it here, there and everywhere, but is all tangles when the ball is coming at his throat. Uthappa is a better player of the short ball and would want to do well in front of his native Bangalore crowd”.

The Little Master Gavaskar further added that the Royal Challengers top-order needs to fire on all cylinders. RCB has looked over-reliant on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in nutshell.

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The former Indian opener further penned down, “The Royal Challengers have had a stop-start season so far and with the kind of batting line-up they have, no total should be beyond them. Their problem has been consistency and not quite getting a start at the top of the order. De Villiers has been hitting the ball like a sweet dream and taking everyone including the opposition’s breath away by the sheer audacity of his shots”.

Corey Anderson bowled a predictable line.

The first man to scale the mountain of 10,000 Test runs added that giving Corey Anderson the ball in the final stages was a mistake on Kohli’s part.

Anderson bowled a predictable line and he was not up to the mark against world-class Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“Giving Corey Anderson the ball for the final overs against a rampaging Dhoni was not a smart move. Anderson has just started to bowl and so will be short of confidence, especially in the slog overs, and that’s how Bangalore lost a match they should have won comfortably,” Sunil Gavaskar noted.

Both RCB, as well as KKR, are coming into the contest after a loss in their respective previous matches and thus they would be hungry to get themselves a much-needed win.

Kohli led team has had its issues with their bowling line-up. Thus, they would look for a better performance from their bowling battery in this particular contest.

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