Sourav Ganguly, adviser of Delhi Capitals, lavished praise on Kagiso Rabada for his match-winning yorker to Andre Russell that helped his side seal a Super Over win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Kotla on Saturday.
According to Sourav, the South Africa pacer’s yorker is the “ball of the IPL.”
“Kagiso Rabada’s Super Over and the ball that he bowled to Andre Russell is probably going to be the ball of the IPL. To bowl that kind of a delivery to Andre Russell, who is probably in the form of his life, is unbelievable,” Sourav told in an interview to iplt20.com.
Rabada defended 10 runs in the Super Over to steer Delhi Capitals to a thrilling win and Sourav, who’s also a former Knight Riders captain, termed the victory against his erstwhile franchise as “special”, more so as the Delhi side has gone through prolonged rough patch over the years.
“The team needed this win. They did not have a great season last year. It’s a young team. These sorts of wins add to the confidence of a side.
“It is still a long season, but this win is more than just a win,” the former India captain added.
Sourav said he felt sorry for Prithvi Shaw, who fell just one short of his maiden IPL hundred in Saturday’s encounter, but insisted that the youngster would get many centuries across formats in days to come.
“Unfortunately, Prithvi got out on 99 and you feel sorry for him. I think he will get a lot more 100s in the IPL and in all formats of the game,” Sourav said.
Asked if he gave any tips to Prithvi during the strategic time out, Sourav replied: “When Prithvi was going so well, you need not tell him anything else. He struck the ball so well. You just had to tell him to keep going and finish the game off.
“For great players, when they go in, they finish the game off and I think Prithvi did that.”
According to Sourav, it is the talented batting line-up at Delhi Capitals that will make a difference going forward in the competition.
“These are top-class Indian players. Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw are either playing for the country or are knocking on the doors of selection.
“We want Hanuma Vihari to get into the thick of things as I think he is a serious player and we have Colin Ingram at No. 5. I think on pitches which turn or are slow, the Indian batsmen will be valued in gold,” Sourav stressed.
Captain Iyer admitted he never expected the match to go into the Super Over with Delhi Capitals needing just six runs in the final over.
“Definitely, a long day at the office. We didn’t expect it to go that deep… Expected ourselves to finish it with an over to spare,” Iyer said.
“Credit must go to Kuldeep Yadav for that last over.”
Talking about the Knight Riders’ swashbuckling all-rounder Russell, who scored 62 off 28 balls, Iyer said: “You can’t control Andre Russell when he gets going. Even his mistimed shots go for sixes and even the bowlers find it tough to plan against him when things just don’t go their way.”
Delhi Capitals were set up nicely by Shaw’s 99 off 55 balls and Iyer applauded the youngster’s efforts.
“All our batsmen decided that whoever gets going should take the side home, and Prithvi did that for us.
‘Hopefully, he can continue doing it for us. I am really happy with myself as well because I refused to let the pressure come onto me after a few dot balls.”
