Rahul Dravid said he was happy to see Sreesanth bounce back during Rajasthan Royals’ six-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab after an expensive spell against Pune Warriors. Sreesanth picked up the wickets of Kings XI openers – Adam Gilchrist and Mandeep Singh – in his first over and was economical giving away 20 runs in his spell.
“You have to realise that in T20, you will have bad games,” Dravid said. “It’s part and parcel of the game. Out of four games, Sreesanth’s had three good games. If 75 per cent of the time in the tournament you have good games, then I’ll take it happily. He did really well today and it was good to see him bounce back from the previous game.”
Sreesanth drew consistent movement off the Jaipur pitch that offered help to the seamers and, along with James Faulkner and Siddharth Trivedi, helped Royals to limit Kings XI to 124. The Royals had lost four wickets with 46 needed to win, but an unbeaten stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson took them over the line in the last over.
“Chasing 125 was not going to be easy on this surface because it was offering movement,” Dravid said. “All wickets should not be of 170-180 runs. 140-150 run wickets can also have exciting games. We are happy with the wicket and don’t interfere with the job of curator. We need to learn to bat better on such wickets.”
“[Shane] Watson played beautifully to add quick runs and release some pressure. But we got stuck in the middle with fall of couple of wickets but Ajinkya Rahane stood there till the end to steer us home. Sanju Samson also batted beautifully and has shown a lot of promise. All in all, it was a fine team effort.”
He also brushed aside any concerns regarding the form of his batsmen, while stating that Brad Hodge’s position in the batting order would depend on the situation the team faces. “As far as the matter of Hodge batting up the order is concerned I feel he has been very good in accelerating at the end overs,” he said. “If the need arises, he can be promoted up the order. The good is thing is that we now have enough cover and options for all positions and can shuffle to meet the demands of situations.”
