IPL 2020: Sachin Tendulkar Surprised By Virat Kohli's Decision To Open; Names Jason Holder's Opening Spell As The Game-Changer In The Eliminator

Former Indian batsman and batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar revealed his surprise at seeing Virat Kohli opening the batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator against SunRisers Hyderabad. Skipper Virat Kohli opened the batting for the first time in IPL 2020; however, managed only six runs in the process. Sachin Tendulkar went on to credit Jason Holder’s opening spell that turned the tide towards SunRisers Hyderabad.

Jason Holder’s first spell saw him deliver two crucial wickets of Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli after SunRisers Hyderabad chose to field first. After their departure, the Orange Army’s captain David Warner applied the squeeze further as only AB De Villiers was their significant run-getter. His half-century lifted them to 131 which the SunRisers chased it down with some difficulty.

Sachin Tendulkar stated that Jason Holder’s opening spell was excellent and was surprised to see Virat Kohli open the innings and being it a different strategy, it did not click. Tendulkar pointed out that Kohli looked positive and tried covering Holder’s swing; however, the West Indian’s extra bounce due to his height did the trick. The 47-year old mentioned that Holder removed RCB’s two out of three pillars; hence, his opening spell was the game-changer.

“Holder’s opening spell was really good and I was surprised to see Virat open the innings. It was a different strategy which didn’t click. Virat looked positive but when Holder was bowling to him, he was trying to carve the line. He trying to cover Holder’s outswing, walking towards bowler to reduce the distance to cut the swing. But Holder gets more bounce than other bowlers as he’s very tall. And that’s what did the trick. Virat was beaten by the bounce. Immediately after that, he got Padikkal out, so he got two main players out, along with AB de Villiers. These three have stood like pillars for RCB this season and have contributed immensely. So Holder getting these two wickets was the game changer for me,” Tendulkar told in his Youtube video.

“The spinners also bowled well” : Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar also lauded the spinners for bowling well and in particular, praised left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. The prolific run-getter said that when AB De Villiers was at the crease, he tried attacking the spinners off the backfoot. Instead, Nadeem did not give him any room or bowled short and followed him when the batsman moved towards the leg-stump.

“The spinners also bowled well. Rashid always bowls well but even [Shahbaz] Nadeem bowled really well along with him. When he bowled to AB de Villiers, if you see the footwork, when he (de Villiers) doesn’t have the freedom to attack, he tries to attack the spinners off the backfoot. He was waiting to move a bit towards the leg stump. Had Nadeem bowled a bit short, he’d attack him off the backfoot. But wisely, Nadeem didn’t give him any room to free his arms to generate power. Whenever he moved towards leg stump, Nadeem would follow him. I really enjoyed watching that spell,” he added.

Also Read: Sachin Tendulkar Explains Why Teams Have Chased Easily In The 2nd Half Of IPL 2020