EXCLUSIVE
Follow UsFormer South African captain Graeme Smith felt that Rajasthan Royals have struck gold with the spin combination of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal after the duo set up a 23-run victory over Mumbai Indians on Saturday.
Ashwin got the key wicket of Tilak Varma (61 off 33 balls) while Chahal narrowly missed out on a hat-trick after removing Tim David and Daniel Sams in the 15th over while defending 194.
"Previously, they got (big names like) Rahul Dravid and Jinx (Rahane). But this season with Ravichandran Ashwin and Chahal, they just got it right," Smith said in Cricket.com's review of the match.
"They had seven debutants in the first game, which goes to show the balance and depth they have this season. The one question they will have today is Jaiswal who had a terrible day in the field and didn't bat that well," he added.
Smith felt that Chahal sending back David and Sams turned the game around in RR's favour.
"Key performances and key overs are important in T20. Chahal's 15th over was the key. When you are defending, 15th and 17th overs become important and Rajasthan pegged MI back with key wickets in those overs," he said.
Smith also noted the difference between night games and day games where teams bowling second were at a disadvantage due to the dew.
"I think it's both (batters and bowlers). We were seeing a day game after a while and we could clearly see how big of a factor dew has been while chasing. You have to defend a total like that against Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard," he said.
Speaking of Buttler's relatively slow hundred, which came in 68 balls, Smith said there is always a chance of play it safe at a venue like Wankhede.
"At a place like Wankhede, one has always few stress points. They could've gone over 200 or 210. Probably, RR were 10 runs short," he said
Despite MI conceding 193 runs, Jasprit Bumrah stood out from the rest as he 3-17 from his four overs. Smith hoped there are more wickets in store for the Indian pacer after Saturday's performance.
"We know the class of Bumrah. He has been a key performer for both India and Mumbai Indians. He bowled and showed the class difference between him and the rest. Mumbai will be hoping there are few more wickets for him."
MI are still without Suryakumar Yadav at No.4, but 19-year Tilak Varma put their chase back on track with a superb 61 from 33 balls which included two boundaries and six against Chahal and two sixes against Ashwin.
"Without Suryakumar Yadav, who we expected to play today, there is a lot of pressure on the big players like Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma, but the youngster Tilak Varma was brilliant. Mumbai would like to have Suryakumar back, but Tilak Varma was a big positive," Smith said.
When asked if bowling is going to be big issue for RR in the longer run, Smith said: "I don't think so. We were discussing about Neesham and Coulter-Nile. I think that the third seam allrounder is the one option they will have to go forward with as the wickets dry out."
