NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid today said that he wants his pace bowlers to be the enforcers when they take on Delhi Daredevils in their opening match of IPL 6, on Saturday.
“We want to use our quick bowlers as enforcers and want them to bowl really quick. There is a shock value attached to a pace bowler and we want to utilise that,” Dravid told reporters at the pre-match interaction here.
“I feel a bowler needs variation in pace or should be really quick to succeed in this format. That is why the quick bowlers are one of the sought after commodity in an auction, he added.
The skipper is hoping that the star Australia allrounder, Shane Watson would be fully fit to bowl in the tournament.
“Shane Watson will be arriving tonight. We don’t want to push him for tomorrow’s game. We have a long season ahead. Hopefully, he should start bowling soon depending on the physio’s advice,” said Dravid.
On the domestic recruits in the Royals squad, the former Indian captain said the side has an exciting batch of young boys and would be hoping them be perform as and when they are picked in the side.
“We have lot of promising new comers and we will test them as the season goes on. I feel Harmeet Singh, Sachin Baby and Sanju Samson (both from Kerala), and Sri Lanka’s Kushal Perera have the potential to make it big. We will see how we can fit them in the squad,” Dravid said.
Asked about the Kotla wicket, Dravid said, “It looks like a typical T20 track. It will offer plenty of runs and the boundaries are also very short.”
Dravid said he worked hard in the last two-and-a-half months in his quest to return to the IPL and is hoping to deliver for his side.
“I was out of touch for eight months after my retirement in March last year. But, I have practiced hard for the last two-and-a-half months to return to the IPL. I think I am pretty close to what I had been in my prime,” he said.
The Royals would be looking to avenge their two consecutive losses against the Daredevils in the last edition when the two sides square off at the Feroze Shah Kotla in the first of the double header. (PTI)