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With the purple cap on his head, Bhuvneshwar Kumar fired warning shots at Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Finn Allen and revealed what plans he has against the aggressive batsman on the relatively slow pitch in Raipur.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are ranked on the top of the table, and hence, they head to Raipur for their final home match of the season. They will host Kolkata Knight Riders for the 12th match of the season.
After playing 11 matches this season, Royal Challengers have been successful in winning seven matches so far this season. They had won a tough victory at this ground in the last match against Mumbai Indians.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave a stern warning to KKR opener Finn Allen
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been one of the most surprising cricketers in this season of the competition. He has performed brilliantly for the Challengers throughout this season, especially with the new ball in the power play.
He tops the Purple Cap leaderboard with 21 wickets this season; However, the good news for the Knight Riders is that New Zealand’s dangerous batsman Allen has returned to great form this season with a century in the last game.
Bhuvneshwar claimed that Allen is known to be a destructive batsman, but the pitch is likely to favor the bowlers once again, and hence he has some plans against the lethal KKR opener.
“He is a very destructive batsman. Yes, again, when you have a batsman like that, it is also an opportunity to get him out. But again the wicket is going to be the same as it played in the last match. This will not be easy for him.
“But of course, if it will be flat, it will not be easy for the bowlers. And yes, there are some plans against him, which we had. And as we know he is a destructive batsman. We will try to get him out initially,” Bhuvneshwar said before the start of the game.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar filled with confidence after hitting a six against MI
After that brilliant contribution with the bat, where he stunned everyone in Raipur with an extremely brilliant hit over the deep extra cover fielder which reached the boundary line and resulted in a smashing six, which helped them win the match.
“When you perform well in the last matches it is very important for your confidence, and when you have confidence, I think I have said it before, and it always helps you perform better.
“But of course, [bowling] Is always there. That six with the bat, I think not only from that match perspective but when certain matches and situations come like this, I can feel that I have done it before and I can do it again,” the RCB fast bowler said.
Will the Raipur pitch help the bowlers on any other occasion?
During the pre-match session, former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch reviewed the pitch and revealed that it was not the same pitch that was used in the previous game; However, it looks very similar to the pitch used on the previous occasion.
“You can see all these cracks, but you can also see some cross-cracks, and that’s where you start getting the bounce up and down. And when you look at the last game, 14 out of 15 wickets were taken by the fast bowlers,” Finch said on the RCB vs KKR pitch.
He said, “It’s the variable bounce, the ability for the bowler to really lock into an area, hit that nice, hard length, and then they can get that variable bounce. How do you play on this? Get your pads back. Back in the good old days, how would you play? I think you have to be prepared to reduce your risk, especially for your first 10 or 12 balls.”
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