R Ashwin said that there are many areas that need improving. (Source: IPL)
R Ashwin said that Kings XI Punjab were nervous during their recent IPL 2018 match against Rajasthan Royals in Indore. Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets courtesy exemplary performances from Mujeeb-ur-Rahman with the ball and KL Rahul with the bat. “We didn’t play for some time, we didn’t get points over the last two weeks and we were nervous. But thankfully we have a couple of points now,” he said in the post-match presentation.
Ashwin said that KL Rahul’s effort with the bat was something that made him happy but there are a lot of areas that need improving. “We have some chinks in our armour. This win, we were tested. One of our batters stayed through to the end so pretty happy with that. Most of our wins have been set up by the bowlers and that’s been pleasing,” he said.
“We know one department is firing on all cylinders. We can play Indian seamers and we can get a foreign batter. The thing is many of our Indian batsmen are inexperienced and they’ll get better. I came in with an open mind as captain, I just wanted to gauge the team and get the best of them. Mostly a captain’s job is setting the field and shuffling the bowlers and planning the right batting order. Bowlers will keep getting hit in T20s. The ones who get hit this game will help me win the next,” said Ashwin.
KL Rahul’s innings lasted 54 balls in which he scored 84. He thus scored more than half of the total runs that Kings XI Punjab made in the match. “For me, this is the first knock that I would be really satisfied with because I won the game for the team,” he said, “The way I started the IPL gave me a lot of confidence and I knew taking it to the next level is by winning the game for the team. So I just wanted to bat deep and win the game. I always try to back my shots, never try to slog. I’ve learned that doesn’t suit me and I know if I can keep my shape, I can succeed even in T20s. I trust my game that I can bat at a fair clip. I knew if I stayed till the end I can win the game. I just needed someone to stay with me. Karun did that. Stoinis did that, and ran well too. Very happy to see the batting group is helping. With the way I was batting, I thought that should have gone for four, but I did get lucky.”
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