I don’t plan to win, I plan to execute to win: Kagiso Rabada

Delhi Capitals pacer Kagiso Rabada, who helped his franchise win a super over against Kings XI Punjab in the 2nd IPL match three days ago, talked about the strategy and mindset he went with in the super over.

It took Rabada 3 balls to wrap things up, as he first dismissed KL Rahul with a short one, cramping him for room and having him out caught at square leg, and then knocked Nicholas Pooran’s off-stump out of the ground next ball with a fuller-length delivery. 

“There was also decent bounce in this wicket, and the boundaries are quite big so it’s going to take a good hit to clear it,” said Rabada on his short-ball plan to Rahul in the super over. “So I just backed myself with the extra pace and bounce, so that hopefully he doesn’t hit it over the fence (laughs). It was a bit of a gamble.

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“I don’t plan to win, but instead I plan to execute to win, and I think I managed to do that well in the Super Over. That’s just the way a game of cricket goes. Honestly, it was a big relief because I knew if I did that, and with the kind of batters we have, three runs to win, we could do that. I was just very relieved that I took the wicket and could help the team in winning.”

“It just depends what’s working for me on the day, and getting a feel for what might work as well. It differs… today was just mixing the lengths up and luckily it helped. Sometimes it doesn’t go for you, sometimes it does.”

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The tactic used by Rabada three days ago was contrasting to his approach of opting for the yorker up against Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik in the super over between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla last year. Rabada, having given the job of defending a target of 11, restricted KKR’s trio of Russell, Karthik, and Robin Uthappa to 7 runs only.

Kagiso Rabada exults after bowling his team to victory in the super over against KKR last year

“It just about the feeling. And the way you read the game. There are many ways to get the job done. You will be criticized if you don’t get the job done – whether you bowl slower balls or yorkers,” Rabada had told ESPNCricinfo after the super over last year.