Kuldeep and Vipraj receive special praise from skipper Axar as the Delhi Capitals continue their unbeaten record.
Kuldeep and Vipraj were given special mentions by skipper Axar Patel after beating RCB at the Chinnswamy last night.
DC held RCB to 163 for 7 with to Kuldeep’s 2 for 17 from four overs with his left-arm wristspin and Nigam’s 2 for 18 with his legspin on a sticky Chinnaswamy surface. After RCB had rushed to 62 for 1 in four overs, Nigam let up just two runs in one of his overs during the powerplay.
“Kuldeep has been doing it for many years,” Axar said at the post-match presentation, “but it’s not easy to be consistent – the IPL is a big stage, and has its own pressure.
“Talking about Vipraj, in the first two games, he was under a bit of pressure. But after that the way he bowled in the last game [he got 2 for 27 against Chennai Super Kings] and even tonight, when I asked him for the 18th over, he was confident and said he would bowl. He is improving day by day, and if someone gives you that confidence, nothing better than that for a captain.”
Axar also discussed the powerplay’s “tactical use” of spin. He bowled the second over, although his over went for 16, aside from the Nigam over.
“Obviously, we talk about match-ups and look at what is happening from the wicket,” he said. “Their openers prefer facing fast bowlers, so I was thinking I should not bowl fast bowlers much. When I started bowling, the ball was sticking in the pitch, and there was some bounce too. I realised it was difficult to score off spinners.
“As the match progressed, the ball started turning more for wristspinners. But I think I went a bit overboard with tactics for the 19th over where I went for 17 runs. But since we won, it’s all good.”