Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons Wanindu Hasaranga dismissing Shreyas Iyer was the game-changing moment after Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by three wickets at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Wednesday.
Hasaranga returned with impressive bowling figures of 4-20 in his quota of four overs and thus he played a key role in skittling out the opposition at 128 runs.
The Sri Lankan leg-spinner was also awarded the Player of the Match for his fine bowling show. Meanwhile, Hasanranga was roped in for a whopping amount of INR 10.75 crores by RCB in IPL 2022 mega auction and Chopra feels the spinner has justified his price tag.
Aakash Chopra said while talking on his YouTube Channel, “RCB bought Wanindu Hasaranga for such a huge amount. He has justified his price tag. RCB had the desire to get two points in their kitty and he took four wickets. He was also on a hat-trick. He bowled extremely well, was absolutely on the spot.”
Chopra admitted that the conditions were conducive for spin bowling in the first innings but Hasaranga deserves all the credit for exploiting them.
“Sometimes you also feel that a leg-spinner looks different when you bowl first. But when it comes to the second innings, Varun Chakravarthy looks different. But let’s not take anything away from Wanindu Hasaranga.”
On the other hand, Hasaranga got the big wicket of KKR captain Shreyas Iyer when the right-hander decided to take the attack against the spinner. However, Iyer found Faf du Plessis at long-on and the former KKR player believes it was a game-changing moment.
“He conceded just 20 runs in his four overs, picked up four wickets and in that Shreyas Iyer’s wicket, I think that was the game-changer. When he took that wicket, the story changed suddenly.”
In fact, RCB was given a perfect start by their fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep to leave KKR at 44-3 after the powerplay overs. Ergo, Hasaranga was able to maintain the pressure in the middle overs as KKR lost six wickets for 57 runs from overs 7-15.
“The fast bowlers were already taking wickets, they (RCB) had gotten off to a good start. You had dismissed Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Ajinkya Rahane – you were getting everyone out with bouncers but I felt spin to win might not be possible but it happened.”
RCB will next lock horns against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday.
