By Monojit Mandal
SHILLONG: Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond on Wednesday said that Mumbai Indians bowlers will like to keep Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul in check when the two teams clash against each other during their Indian Premier League match in Abu Dhabi.
Replying to a question asked by The Shillong Times, the former New Zealand pacer highly praised the Indian wicket-keeper batsman terming him as a brilliant batsman and said that KL Rahul would be his team’s prime target.
“KL Rahul has got runs against us in the last few games and he is a brilliant player. We are having our bowlers’ meeting this afternoon, in terms of our planning for our opponents who are playing well. KL is a dynamic player, who scores all around the field,” said Bond. “We also know that he (Rahul) takes his time generally through the middle overs, so that’s perhaps an opportunity to create some pressure on him and the batsmen around him.”
“We will have specific ideas about how we can get him out. In the end, we can’t allow him (Rahul) to score in the areas he is very, very strong. He scores well over extra-cover, picks up over fine-leg.” Bond added. Rahul has been in terrific form in the ongoing competition, having scored 222 runs in three innings and currently sits at the top of the list of leading run-getters. He is followed by Mayank Agarwal, who has scored 221 runs in the three innings he has played.”We have got a quality bowling unit, we just have to put pressure on them. Mind you, the two key batters for Kings XI Punjab played brilliantly so far. If we can create some pressure and get those boys out early, and put some little bit more pressure on that middle-order early, we can restrict them to a score, stop them from scoring (big) runs,” he said.
Mumbai Indians have two points from three games and had lost their last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Super Over in Dubai. According to Bond, adapting to the conditions in Abu Dhabi is something which Mumbai would aim to work upon.
“We have a simple theory – we try to bowl seven metres as fast bowling group and 5 metres as a spin-bowling group. We try to keep it simple and to adjust as soon as we can,” explained bond.