Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach Chandrakant Pandit was happy with rookie spinner Suyash Sharma’s “fighting attitude”, saying it was very difficult for rival batters to pick the the 19-year-old from Delhi.
Suyash made a huge impact in his debut IPL game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, picking up the prize wickets of pinch-hitter Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat and tail-ender Karn Sharma as KKR thrashed Faf du Plessis’ side by 81 runs here on Thursday night.
“We have seen him (Suyash) at trial matches. He is very quick in the air, and it’s very tough to pick him. It’s just the inexperience; but he showed a fighting attitude,” said Pandit after the match.
The former India cricketer also complimented the batters for showing the courage to fight back and post a 200-plus total after they were down and out at 89/5, with Shardul Thakur smashing a 29-ball 68.
“It’s a good win. The boys have shown the character. Looking at the initial stage, having lost wickets, and coming back to get 200-plus. We just expected the pitch to help the spinners. But you require enough runs. Shardul and Rinku Singh (46 off 33) counter-attacked the opposition,” added Pandit.
“Even today, we collapsed (to 5/89), and credit to (Rahmanullah) Gurbaz (57 off 44 balls). It was an unbelievable innings from
Shardul Thakur.
