Krunal Pandya of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has received high accolades from franchise batting coach Dinesh Karthik. Krunal, a left-arm spinner and the brother of India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, has reinvented himself over time.
That is why he has lasted in a highly competitive league like the Indian Premier League (IPL). Krunal's variations and ingenuity once made life difficult for high-quality batsmen such as AB de Villiers. He was also the Player of the Final when RCB defeated Punjab Kings in the IPL 2026 summit clash to win their maiden title.
This year, Krunal has used bouncers as a surprise weapon. Batsmen all over the IPL were taken aback by that, even his own brother Hardik, during the MI-RCB match earlier this month. Karthik was effusive in his appreciation for Krunal, who he believes will be remembered for a long time.
“Krunal Pandya is a player this game will remember for a long time. He is pushing the boundaries of finger spin and bowling deliveries that weren’t imaginable a few years ago. He is becoming a master at it. He knows when to use his variations to create doubt in the batter’s mind, and more often than not, it delivers results.
A lot of credit must go to him for how he is evolving as an all-rounder. IPL is changing the landscape of cricket, and Krunal is doing the same for finger-spin bowling,” Karthik stated in an RCB release.
Karthik said reinventing yourself was key to surviving in the IPL.
“The IPL is constantly raising the bar. Players need to keep reinventing themselves to keep up with how fast the game is moving. To that end, data and analytics could come in more than handy. “We use data to understand situations better and try to use it to our advantage. It’s something we are consciously working on as a group,” he said.
RCB, who are second on the IPL 2026 points table, will clash with Delhi Capitals (DC) in Delhi on April 27, 2026. The Capitals, on the other hand, are in ninth position and are coming off an embarrassing loss to PBKS, in which they were unable to defend 264.
(ANI inputs)
