4 min readMumbaiApr 13, 2026 08:02 AM IST
Bouncers are usually bowled by fast bowlers, so it’s rare to see a spinner use one in T20 cricket. But with batters dominating and innovation becoming more important, Krunal Pandya has started using the surprise bouncer to keep ahead of the game.
The RCB all-rounder, who used the short ball ploy during his spell of 1/26 against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, mentioned that the Impact Player rule had played a role in him using the bouncers to try to contain the batter from taking him on.
“I have never shied away from trying different and new things. Because if you see with the impact player rule, previously, without an impact player, you had a number six all-rounder, a number seven all-rounder. Batsmanship was quite different, but now having 8 pure batters, plus the skill set. You see the young boys like Mukul, Vaibhav, so many of them are just coming and hitting from ball one consistently.”
“So again, as a bowler, I always want to be one step ahead with the skill set as well as with the mental battle as well. It has just purely come from that. Whether it is me bending my knee and bowling that ball or a bouncer.”
“I am glad that it is coming out well and hope that in this format, there are finger spinners who will survive and who can take something out of it. And do well in this format. Because for finger spinner with having flat tracks has 8 batters, it has become very difficult. So yeah, I am glad that I have been able to contribute in a nice way,” he said in the post-match presentation.
Pandya said his use of the bouncer isn’t pre-planned but driven by instinct, adding that he relies on his gut feeling in the moment and backs whatever decision he makes with full commitment.
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“I am someone who follows my gut. I don’t pre-plan that I want to bowl a 4th or 5th or 6th ball bouncer. There are days where I will bowl two bouncers back to back, and suddenly I will bowl first ball and a 6th ball. So there are no such plans that I want to bowl. But yeah, it is more sort of a gut feeling when to bowl which ball, and I just commit 100% to that,” he added.
While Pandya held his end by not allowing the MI batsmen from hitting fours and sixes regularly, his spin bowling partner Suyash Sharma set the tone by dismissing Ryan Rickelton and Tilak Varma in the eighth over.
The all-rounder said that Suyash was improving as a bowler, and working with Malolan Rangarajan was helping him improve his craft.
“He has been getting better if you see. It has been last year compared to this year; he has got better.”
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“Again, I will give a lot of credit to Malolan (Rangarajan), who is our spin bowling coach. He has been constantly working with him in the off-season as well as during the season. He has always had a conversation with him, and again, all credit goes to Suyash that he has been able to adapt things, and he has been able to be consistent as a bowler. And which always helps in a game where batters are taking you every ball,” Pandya said.
RCB next face Lucknow Super Giants in a home fixture on Wednesday.
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