New Delhi: The Match 8 of Indian Premier League Season 10 saw AB de Villiers replacing Chris Gayle in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad - a decision that might not have pleased the fans, but as per Stuart Binny, the team had no other option.
RCB announced the return of De Villiers in the match against KXIP, but the South African star's inclusion came at the cost of another big name. With the Bengaluru franchise only managing a modest 148 despite ABD's incredible 89-run knock, many wondered if Gayle's absence restricted the team's firepower with the bat. (IPL 10, KXIP vs RCB - As it happened | Full Coverage)
“Shane Watson has batted in the top order for all his career, so there was no question of changing his position. We had no option but to drop Chris Gayle to make way for AB in the top order. It was not a tactical strategy but simply we had no other choice. As soon as AB de Villiers is fit he walks into RCB’s playing XI,” Binny said.
“We didn’t put enough runs on the board. When you win the toss and bat, 148 is just not enough,” said Binny. “We thought the wicket was going to play a lot better, which is why we chose to bat first. We thought the ball would come on a lot better after seeing the grass on the wicket, but it didn’t. It was two-paced and we needed at least 18-20 balls to adjust. Only after the dew came in, the ball started to skid on to the bat. They (Punjab) hardly played any deliveries that stopped on them. We didn’t expect that to happen,” he further added.
Gayle, just 25 runs short of 10,000 T20 runs, was looking foward to become the first batsman to reach the landmark but now will have to wait a little longer considering AB’s form.
Binny, the all-rounder, also reflected on the team's loss against Glenn Maxwell's team.
"Our team's score of 148 was not sufficient. Because of grass on the pitch we decided to bat first after winning the toss with a hope that the ball will come straight to the bat and we would be able to make a big score," RCB's Stuart Binny, who scored an unbeaten 18, told reporters last night.
"But the dew prevented the balls from coming onto the bat properly," he said.
"At the time of batting, the dew started falling on the pitch and the wicket was behaving such that we were being forced to play 18-20 balls at ease to firm up our position on the ground before playing big strokes," he said.
KXIP easily chased down RCB's target of 149 runs, securing an 8-wicket victory at the Holkar Cricket Stadium to register their second consecutive win.
