IPL 2019: Piyush Chawla wary of RCB bounce back

RCB is yet to register a win in the IPL 2019, but the KKR will not be taking things for granted, according to leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.

KKR legspinner Piyush Chawla during a training session at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Kolkata Knight Riders may have all the advantage going into the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Friday. It has won two comprehensively and lost one narrowly, in a Super Over. The team has stayed undefeated in Bengaluru since 2016 and is up against a team that is yet to register a win in the IPL 2019, but the Knight Riders will not be taking things for granted, according to leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.

Read: RCB desperate for a turnaround

“We all know what kind of team RCB has got and four games down does not mean they are down and out because we know the quality of players they have and they will bounce back for sure. I am sure they are going to come back even more hard at us. Obviously, we have to prepare for that and play some good cricket if we want to beat them,” he said.

Talking about the team’s plan for RCB’s star-studded batting line-up, he said: “Our plans are simple: just follow the basics, because we all know they have Virat (Kohli), AB de Villiers and even Parthiv has been batting well. All are quality batsmen and we just need to follow the basics, keep it simple and make sure we don't give any easy runs,” he said.

Delhi Capitals assistant coach and former cricketer Mohammed Kaif had recently alleged that the teams were replacing slow fielders during the match to avoid the over-rate penalties. He took the example of Rinku Singh replacing Andre Russell and Piyush Chawla in the field at various moments of the game against DC, but Chawla denied such tactics were used. “Well, that was because a lot of injuries happened in that game. It had nothing to do with slow over-rate because we were bowling at a decent pace and even they bowled at a decent pace. A lot of injuries happened, that is why the game stretched so long,” he said.