Why on Earth Did Krunal Only Bowl Two Overs? The One Question Everyone’s Asking

Why on Earth Did Krunal Only Bowl Two Overs? The One Question Everyone's Asking

You know the moment – you’re watching the match and it just doesn’t add up? You’ve got your snack in order, you’ve settled down, then INTERVENTION – Krunal Pandya is the bowler and you get two – TWO – overs from him? In a big IPL match, thousands of runs on the board, batters flicking it into the stands with nonchalance, and you are telling me that a senior and strategic bowler bowls two? Confused? So am I. Let’s walk through the series of things wrong here and see what got neglected.

Experience Left Sitting in the Dugout

To clarify: Krunal Pandya is far from a guy looking to find his place in the IPL; he is a seasoned, crafty bowler who specializes in pressure situations. You don’t have to look far back to find games where he has controlled middle overs, taken key wickets, and bowled extremely tight spells while others were getting hammered. 

Instead, he was relegated to a “part-time” bowler – only two overs in a match when bowlers were under siege. To decide to use one of the greatest cricketing brains in the middle overs when runs were leaking from both ends? Bold. But not the good kind of bold.

Sheppard’s Four Overs? A Surprise Package with a Price

Now let’s discuss Romario Shepherd. He is exciting, comes with unpredictability, and on his day, can turn a game with bat or ball. But to ask him to bowl four overs in a high-pressure situation seemed like playing the odds a little too much. Sure, he has that x-factor, but he’s not a “4-over” bowler, right? It’s hit and miss, so why not have him bowl 2 maybe 3 overs with freedom?

They attempted to stretch him across four, and it didn’t go well. The pressure that could’ve been taken off someone like Krunal, who knows how to set fields cleverly, change his pace, and outsmart batters, was handed to a guy who was still becoming comfortable in those spaces. And it did not work. The bowling unit looked uninterested, and the field placements said it all.

Read More: RCB’s Road to the Top 2: Can They Turn the Tables in IPL 2025?

Missing Out on Backup Options (Livingstone, Anyone?)

Liam Livingstone, another useful bowling option, didn’t even get a shot. This is a huge ground that was perfect for someone like him to bowl a couple of overs and maybe grab themselves a wicket or two. These small tactical things can shift momentum, exactly what they needed with Marsh and Pant launching into the attack.

It felt like the captaincy was reactive instead of proactive. You could see bowlers unsure of their plans, fielders going through the motions, and virtually no intent to try to break the rhythm of the batsmen as they battled through the middle overs. That is where leadership comes in. That is where a guy like Krunal can be very important, not just as a bowler, but as an on-the-ground contributor. But he was underused, and his team paid the price for it.

I know we can always take advantage of the gift of hindsight, and hindsight is 20/20, but some decisions just look wrong in the present moment- two overs of Krunal was one of those occurrences. There are games where every run counts, and nobody is more important than your best resources. If you manage your best resource properly, you can turn a game from defending 230 to watching it disappear in 18 overs.

It takes instinct to captain an international cricket team. A captain has to read the situation of the game as it unfolds, not blindly implement a “plan”. As easy as it is for us ‘couch critics’ to analyze the match or strategy, when you have the threat sitting right in front of you and not using the threat, it becomes baffling.

What’s your take? Was it a missed opportunity, or do you think there was a reason behind the strategy? 

 

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