IPL 2024: Second-placed KKR look to dethrone RR from pole position
But it’s easier said than done as the Rajasthan Royals have been ruthless throughout the tournament, barring a minor blip against Gujarat Titans.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ wicketkeeper-batsman Robin Uthappa, who scored his IPL-best knock of 87 runs on Wednesday to drive his team to victory, revealed that leg-spinner Piyush Chawla is the toughest bowler he has kept wickets to, so far in his career.
“Piyush (Chawla) is an extremely challenging bowler as he has different kinds of googlies,” Uthappa said as quoted by ‘iplt20’ on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Karnataka-based cricketer added that keeping to West Indies spinner Sunil Narine is also difficult though he enjoys it to the fullest.
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“It is hard work keeping to all our spinners (Sunil Narine, the third spinner in KKR), but I enjoy the challenge. It makes keeping a lot more fun,” he said.
Undoubtedly, Uthappa enjoyed his best day on Wednesday as he impressed the Pune spectators with three sharp stumpings and then smashed 87 from 47 balls with the help of six sixes and seven boundaries.
Besides Uthappa, KKR Chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav took a big share of credit for their victory as he claimed two big wickets in the shape of MS Dhoni and Manoj Tiwary.
Both Dhoni and Tiwary appeared helpless while facing the deceiving googlies by Kuldeep.
Uthappa praised the young spinner from Kanpur and said that he spent a lot of time with Kuldeep in the nets to improve his game.
“Obviously, you keep to him (Kuldeep) as often as you can in the nets and that helps in understanding what he is bowling and when he is bowling it. Also, during the course of the game you understand what the batsman is doing and what the bowler is probably going to bowl,” Uthappa added.
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