Rajasthan Royals bowling coach Shane Bond was all praise for his team after they blew away Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai Indians to notch up their third win on the trot in IPL 2024. Sanju Samson and co. chased their target of 125 runs quite easily, winning the match with more than 4 overs to spare. Bond, speaking after the match, spoke on a host of things ranging from RR’s bowling attack to reason behind Riyan Parag’s consistent performances.
‘Lucky to have two fantastic left arm seamers’
Bond spoke about the advantages of having two very different left-arm seamers in the form of Trent Boult and Nandre Burger in the Rajasthan Royals rank. Burger picked up 2 wickets in the match while Boult picked up 3.
“We are very lucky to have two fantastic left arm seamers. They are very different even though they bowl left-arm pace. One relies on swing and the other relies on pace. One’s experienced, one not so much. We’ve talked about collective effort before, and when the bowlers deliver, it makes my job easy. Really happy with the performance, and still think we have more left in the tank,” Bond said.
On having previous experience with MI
Bond was asked if his previous experience with Mumbai Indians helped. He said, “Yes that helps. Of course there’s all the data stuff but when you spend so much time around players, talk to them about their game and see their views on the game, it helps a lot. It was quite fun being on the other side. A couple of dismissals today gave me a lot of satisfaction.”
Advantage of having Yuzi and Ash in the same team
Rajasthan Royals have a wonderful spin department with experienced Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal leading the ranks. Bond revealed that he considers himself a bowling coach rather than a fast-bowling coach. He iterated that he tries to talk and help the spinners as well,
“It’s been fun. That’s one of the things I’ve really enjoyed. Even though I’m called a fast-bowling coach, I look at myself as bowling coach. I was really looking forward to working with Ash and Yuzi. Chahal bowled selflessly today, not offering anything to the batters and he is still getting wickets,” Bond said.
Plan for Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag has been the star for Rajasthan Royals so far this season. The batter scored yet another half-century on Monday and regained the Orange Cap for the time-being. Bond revealed that moving Devdutt Paddikal was done to provide a top-order place for Parag.
“He had a wonderful domestic season batting up the order. And with the trade we made to bring in Avesh Khan in place of Devdutt Paddikal, that was done to promote Riyan up to a position that was probably suited for him. He’s matured a lot and RR are reaping the rewards of making the investment on him,” Bond revealed.
Editors pick
