IPL 2020: Shane Bond reveals why KL Rahul needs to be put under pressure early on

Mumbai bowling coach Shane Bond is pretty clear that Punjab skipper KL Rahul needs to be kept in check to gain an upper hand when the two sides lock horns with each other at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Rahul is currently the Orange Cap holder with 222 runs in three matches. 

'KL Rahul has got runs against us in the past': Shane Bond

"KL Rahul has got runs against us in the past, he is a brilliant player. Look we know he is a dynamic player and he scores all through the ground. We also know that he takes his time during the middle overs. So it will be an opportunity for us to create pressure on him if he gets that far in his innings against us. In the end, we cannot allow him to score runs he is strong at. We have a quality bowling attack so we have to put him under pressure. We are confident with our batting lineup, we have scored runs in all our matches, we are aware about the conditions as we have played two matches here," Bond pointed.

Adaptation will be the key and that is exactly what the Mumbai unit is looking to perfect as per Bond.

"Look, I think what we are trying to do is adapt to the conditions. When you turn up in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, you have some idea as to how it will play looking at the history, but the fact is that you have to adapt as quick you can, we have a simple theory, we try to bowl seven metres as fast bowling group and 5 metres as a spin-bowling group. We try to keep it simple, and we also try to adjust as soon as we can," he said.

Can Mumbai get back to winning ways against Punjab?

Both sides will be heading into Thursday's contest after having lost their respective encounters. The 2014 finalists were comprehensively outplayed by Rajasthan on Sunday night where they chased down a mammoth target of 224 and ended up registering the highest successful run-chase in the tournament's history. The defending champions, on the other hand, went down to Bangalore in a high-voltage Super Over on Monday. 

READ: IPL 2020: Shane Warne Backs Sanju Samson To Represent India In All Three Formats

(With ANI Inputs)

(Image Courtesy: BCCI/IPL)