Patience, simplicity worked on a sticky wicket: Kagiso Rabada
Following the example set by Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers and sticking to Test-match lines and lengths with patience and simplicity worked in his favour, said Gujarat Titans pacer Kagiso Rabada after their massive win here on Tuesday.
Gujarat Titans rose to the No. 1 spot in the IPL 2026 points table with an 82-run hammering of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their clash here on Tuesday.
With Kagiso Rabada returning 3/28, Jason Holder claiming 3/20 and Mohammed Siraj taking 1/11, the visitors were shot out for 86 in 14.5 overs in reply to Gujarat Titans’ 168 for five.
“Season in, season out, all you try to do is do the best you can. I have been backed and it has been clear what my role has been: leave everything out for the team. Rhythm is everything,” Rabada told the broadcaster after the match.
“100 per cent,” he replied when asked if Test match length was the right approach with the ball.
“They showed how to bowl on it and we tried to follow suit. Wicket got a little more sticky and patience and simplicity worked,” he added.
Talking about his bowling partnerships with the other pacers, Rabada said understanding the nature of the pitch becomes imperative for their success.
“(It is) about bowling as much as I can but also preserving myself to be match ready. Need to find a way to somehow click, (it is) just about finding out the kind of pitch we are playing on and bowling accordingly,” he said.
“We each have our own natural attributes, and it is about seeing how much you can extract, without looking too far ahead. If your strength is not working out, then you can look at something else,” the Proteas pacer added.
Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill said his side does not believe in playing a particular brand of cricket but prefers adapting to the conditions on offer.
“We bowled very well. We knew if we bowled well, we would always be in the game. We spoke about if we get anywhere near 160-170, it will not be easy for them with our bowling attack. The way Sai and Washy batted, getting us close to 170,” he said.
“The way we bowled in the powerplay, kudos to both of our bowlers. It is all about being consistent and being ruthless. We are not a team who play a particular style and brand, and assess the conditions,” Gill added.
SRH captain Pat Cummins rued his bowlers did not hold on to their probing lengths for a longer duration.
“(We were) pretty happy when we walked off, it was a tricky wicket, they bowled well. Try to look for ways to get through that spell maybe. Looked like a tough wicket when you hit that back of a length,” he said.
“Maybe we could have held our lengths a little longer. But that is as good a T20 bowling (performance) as you can see from them. Our batting has been fantastic, so not reading too much into that,” Cummins added.
Cummins urged SRH to recover from this heavy defeat quickly.
“This happens in T20 cricket. We (now) go to venues we know well, so we take confidence from that. We won five or six (matches) and that gives a bit of breathing room, so going back to what got us those wins and putting this behind quickly,” he added.
