Bhuvneshwar: Wanted to take the pace off the ball

Tags: India tour of South Africa 2018, South Africa Vs India,1st T20I at Johannesburg,Feb 18, 2018, India, South Africa, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, pace bowling, T20I

Published on: Feb 19, 2018

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uvneshwar Kumar, who picked up five wickets in the first T20 against South Africa, said pace variation was the key to his success.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who picked up five wickets in the first T20 against South Africa, said pace variation was the key to his success.

Kumar claimed 5 for 24 as India won the match by 28 runs after posting 200 plus. “What I was trying to do is bring about change of pace in my bowling. I just wanted to take the pace off the ball because I knew it won’t be easy to hit the ball and that’s what I did. The important thing is how you mix your deliveries according to the wicket," Kumar was quoted as saying in a PTI report.

He further explained, "For instance, today we bowled a lot of slow balls. It was a part of our strategy on this wicket, to do away with pace and make it difficult for the batsmen to score.”

India’s batting hero was Shikhar Dhawan with 72 off 39 balls. SA targeted India with short balls. On the same, Kumar said, “Whenever India goes abroad, the reputation is that India are not good at batting against short bowling. This time we haven’t seen that thing. We have really tackled it well.”

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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