Rajasthan Royals (RR) fast bowler Navdeep Saini on Saturday (April 2) admitted feeling the pressure when he was given the ball to defend 29 runs in the final over against Mumbai Indians (MI) at DY Patil Stadium.

Saini’s final over began with a wide, followed by Kieron Pollard smashing a full delivery through extra cover for four.

But the right-arm pacer backed himself to bowl two more full balls outside off-stump and then followed it up with a low full toss and wide yorker to keep Pollard quiet. Saini dismissed Pollard on the last delivery with a wide full toss to ensure a 23-run win for RR.

“At that time, we knew one thing there were a lot of runs left. I had it in my mind that the plans I have, like the wide yorker, had to be executed with the runs and balls left. The pressure was on me and I had in me that with the plan I have, it was absolutely necessary to execute the plans. Even when the last two balls were left, I had thought of backing my strength and execute it," said Saini in the post-match virtual press conference.

Navdeep Saini had gone off the field at the end of the 13th over. He hit the ground while taking a low catch to dismiss Ishan Kishan. There were speculations about a concussion replacement but Saini came back to bowl the final over.

“When my head hit the ground, I had to go out for one-two overs. As soon as I felt normal, I came back to the field as I was needed. So, to bowl again, I came back on the field. I am fine right now," he said.

Asked about the mood in the Royals camp when Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma had an 81-run partnership, Saini replied: “There was only one thought at that time when they were batting well: to not panic and had planned that the game is quite long, so had to stick to the normal plans and execute the plan as per our strengths."

Saini was appreciative of Rajasthan Royals’ bowling coach Lasith Malinga.

“Talking about Malinga sir, we practised a lot under him and he had already told us the plan about what could be better. We had it in that we had to execute our plan irrespective of the situation and back our planning."

He signed off by showering compliments on RR skipper Sanju Samson.

“I have been playing with Sanju bhai a lot before and in the practice matches played previously, spending the whole day together, he always asks all the time about what and how the plans are. It helped as we knew how to execute the plans better during the match and were about what the plan could be or not be."

(With IANS inputs)