Skipper Nitish Rana put forth the rationale behind not using Anukul Roy and Andre Russell as bowling options in Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. KKR used Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Shardul Thakur as the five bowlers.

The Men in Gold and Purple didn’t get off to the best of starts after losing to PBKS by 7 runs (DLS Method). Rana, who is standing in for the injured Shreyas Iyer, admitted that Shikhar Dhawan’s team judged the playing conditions better than the Knight Riders.

“Was thinking of using Anukul with the ball but didn't find the right situation for it. Russell not bowling at the death wasn't because of any injury issue. I just felt like going with my five main bowlers. They batted well, judged the wicket better than us,” Rana was quoted as saying in the post-match presentation ceremony.

After electing to field first, KKR bowlers faltered as Punjab racked up a decent score of 191 for the loss of five wickets. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the star performer for PBKS, scoring 50 runs off 32 balls with five fours and two sixes.

Plenty of learnings: Nitish Rana

After rain halted play, the Knights were set a revised target of 154 in 16 overs. But the Knights lost wickets regularly and fell behind the DLS par score. With their score at 146 for seven in 16 overs, rain pulled the curtains down on the match.  

“Anything could've happened if the rain didn't arrive. Venkatesh got out unfortunately as we were trying to get ahead on DLS. The shot was on. Overall, it was a good game. Plenty of learnings from it. It's only the first game of the season,” Rana added.