RCB had no other option but to leave out Chris Gayle: Stuart Binny

In a one-sided match yesterday, Kings XI Punjab outclassed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in all departments as the home team romped by 8 wickets and with 34 balls to spare. It was an exceptional performance from Punjab which will definitely keep them in good stead ahead going into the midway of the tournament.

One of the biggest calls taken by Royal Challengers Bangalore was to leave out arguably the greatest T20 batsman of all time Chris Gayle in favour of South African limited overs captain AB de Villiers. It was really a big call from the Bangalore camp but given the magnitude of AB de Villiers, they didn’t have any other options. They are already missing out on the services of their regular captain Virat Kohli so the inclusion of de Villiers was the need of the hour.

Apart from captain Watson and de Villiers, the other two preferred foreigners were Billy Stanlake and Tymal Mills. All-rounder Stuart Binny defended their decision of dropping Gayle as they had no other options. Watson has batted in the top order for the most part of his career, so there was no question of changing his position,” Binny was quoted as saying by Wisden India.

Binny shared an 80 runs partnership with de Villiers when the chips were down for Bangalore. The partnership ensured Bangalore reached a competitive total of 148 in their allotted 20 overs. “We had no option but to drop 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 is fit, he walks into RCB’s playing XI,” Binny said.

In his comeback de Villiers went hammers and tongs and wasn’t looking rusty. His last 58 came off a mere 18 deliveries including 8 gigantic sixes. It was a heck of an innings but the total of 148 was never going to be enough and it was just the case. Courtesy a half-century from Hashim Amla and a quickfire 43 of 22 deliveries from captain Glenn Maxwell, Punjab secured a resounding victory.

“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.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel bagged the Man of the Match Award for his exceptional match figures of 1/12 which included the wicket of the rival captain Shane Watson in the very first over of the match. He conceded the fact that two-faced nature of the surface actually helped Punjab after bowling first. The move of batting first turned out to be a horrible one from Watson as dew crept in the later part of the match and denied the RCB bowlers to grip the ball properly.

“The practice wickets were a bit flat but the wicket in the middle was helping the bowlers. It was a bit slow in the first game and today it was a bit two-paced. There was some grass so there was some bounce too. It made it easier for us.

“But we had a strategy for all their batsmen. We were also told to stick to it no matter how they went about their innings. Even when things went completely out of hand, we had Plan B.” The ploy of bowling with Axar Patel upfront worked as Watson was dismissed in the very first over. Watson had issues playing left arm spinners and it was evident yet again.

“He’s (Watson) an Australian batsman and we know how Australian batsmen play spin,” said Axar jokingly. “When I came off the field after the warm-up, I was told that I was going to bowl the first over. That’s because Watson has some trouble against left-arm spinners.” While Punjab executed most of the plans to perfection, the one time when Punjab looked all over the place was when ABD was smashing sixes after sixes especially in the final 3 overs. Axar conceded that its literally impossible to stop Mr.360 and the only solution is to stand and admire. “There is nothing you can do against someone like him. You can’t even feel bad about it as a bowler because what he does is not something you’re trained to face. You just stand and admire what he does and how he does it.”

While Punjab executed most of the plans to perfection, the one time when Punjab looked all over the place was when ABD was smashing sixes after sixes especially in the final 3 overs. Axar conceded that its literally impossible to stop Mr.360 and the only solution is to stand and admire. “There is nothing you can do against someone like him. You can’t even feel bad about it as a bowler because what he does is not something you’re trained to face. You just stand and admire what he does and how he does it.”