When Varun Chakravarthy finally dismissed Phil Salt, Royal Challengers Bengaluru required only 80 off 69 balls for victory over Kolkata Knight Riders with nine wickets still at their disposal during Saturday’s IPL 2025 opener at the Eden.
Defending those runs in pretty decent conditions for batting wasn’t easy. And that is how it turned out as the RCB cruised to a seven-wicket win.
It’s still very early in the competition, but the opening loss to RCB does indicate that the defending champions are a little short on fast bowling this time around. If Varun and his senior spin colleague Sunil Narine are off-colour in a game, it could become increasingly tougher for the Knight Riders’ pace attack to help their side claw back into the contest.
What makes it tougher for the Knights’ current pace bowling group is the lack of enough experience. Australian left-arm quick Spencer Johnson hasn't completed even two years in international cricket, while Vaibhav Arora has had nothing of it yet.
Yes, Harshit Rana’s India experiences following a triumphant IPL 2024 have helped him grow as a player. But he comes across as a far more effective bowler when bowling alongside Mitchell Starc or a pacer of similar stature.
For him to single-handedly change the complexion of a game, Harshit still has to travel a mile or two. Agreed, the three-time champions have the experience of South African Anrich Nortje to rely on, but he too has been out for quite some time due to injury and looked sloppy in the practice games.
Following the defeat to RCB, captain Ajinkya Rahane minced no words to say that the Knights would be quite happy to play on spin-friendly surfaces, particularly at the Eden, considering the abilities of Varun and Narine. While the chances of that materialising are remote, the KKR bowlers will be up for a severe test in their next game too, which is against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Wednesday.
The Barsapara Stadium pitch in Guwahati will be anything but spin-friendly. "The pitches that are prepared here never really aid spinners much. On most occasions, the pitches have been high-scoring and it may not be any different this time as well. Besides, it has been a tad cooler here over the last one or two days. So, if it remains cooler, dew too could be a factor in the game," an Assam Cricket Association official told The Telegraph on Sunday.
If the Varun-Narine duo doesn't click, the Knights' bowling group may again have a hard time out in Guwahati against the big-hitting prowess of Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer and the like.
Before their departure for Guwahati on Sunday, head coach Chandrakant Pandit and mentor Dwayne Bravo emphasised the need to avoid mistakes during crucial periods. But along with that, the Knights need to first put their thinking caps on regarding their pace bowling group.
Rahane, though, remains optimistic of a bounce back from the quicks. "It's a tough sport for the fast bowlers, but they are trying hard, working hard. I'm sure these guys will bounce back harder," the skipper stated.
