NEWS
Follow UsRajasthan Royals’ assistant and fast bowling coach Shane Bond has no problem with the Impact Player rule and feels the quality of bowling in the Indian Premier League 2024 has been “a little bit below par.” Indian captain Rohit Sharma, many bowlers, and former players have openly criticised the rule, saying it’s making things extremely easy for the batters.
“I like seeing sixes. I like seeing runs. I like seeing bowlers being put under pressure. And the beauty of the game is you have to adjust and adapt. Even from last year, the batters have done that. The scores have gone up. Even in the last 5-10 years, batting’s just gone up. The shot-making is amazing,” said Bond after RR’s five-wicket defeat against Punjab Kings on May 16 (Wednesday).
“Bowlers haven’t caught up and they have to plan better. They’ve got to think better. They got to make better decisions. When you look at the Bumrahs of the world, they are still doing it regardless. That’s what world-class players do. And the challenge for all the bowlers in the competition is to just get better. I think the general quality of bowling has probably been a little bit below par in the tournament, but you would be hoping that at the back end and even through to next year that would improve.”
The Royals suffered their fourth consecutive defeat of the season, which has now put their No.2 spot in jeopardy. Batting first in Guwahati, Rajasthan could only manage 144/9 in their 20 overs. In reply, Sam Curran crafted a steady fifty and helped Punjab win the game with seven deliveries to spare.
“We just didn’t get enough runs in the first innings. If we’d put a score around 170-180, it would have been perhaps a different result… We’ve got an extremely competitive bowling attack, there’s no doubt about that. We probably just haven’t churned out the runs that we wanted in the last couple of games,” said Bond.
“It was a slow wicket. I think the Kings bowled really well on it. Sort of gave us an indication; they bowled really straight. They controlled the innings really. So, that was our goal when we went out to bowl. It was to do the exact same thing: bowl wicket-to-wicket, try to make things as hard as we possibly could, and create some pressure.”
RR were without Jos Buttler, who has already left for England to play a T20I series against Pakistan. In his absence, Tom Kohler-Cadmore made his debut but struggled big time. The right-handed opener could only score 18 off 23 before getting out to Rahul Chahar. “It’s never easy walking in so late in the competition. Tom’s been around the team for a couple of years and he’s a very talented player.
“Jos was a real leader on the field, so with him going, it makes a little bit of a difference. So, we’ve got to make a couple of subtle adjustments with that. But the new players bring fresh energy as well. Like it’s quite exciting when guys are making their debuts and you’re looking for them to have that first performance, which is really good. I’m hoping we’ll see that in the knockout games.”
Riyan Parag, however, was once again impressive. The right-hander got 48 off 34 deliveries and also went past 500-run mark this season. “Riyan has had an amazing season, isn’t he? His promotion to number four has really suited him. He’s had a number of years batting in a position that was pretty tough down the order and people forget how young he is. It just takes some time when you’re young. Obviously saw, how well he played in domestic cricket and this season particularly in T20s.
“He’s rolled on this season for us and just lets a quality; he’s a quality player. There’s no doubt about him. I’m really excited for him and proud of him the way he has played so far. I think the team is super excited for him. He’s borne the brunt of some criticism over the last few years in terms of performances and so to put that to the side and come out the way he’s played this season at the number four spot, real credit to him for the work he’s put in.”
Play Asli Fantasy on Cricket.com. Download the app now.
