JOIN US Sreenath Arvind hasn’t set this Indian Premier League afire but the left-arm seamer has been impressive in patches to help Royal Challengers Bangalore’s attack remain effective.
In four matches Arvind has taken three wickets with an economy rate of 9.26 -- not the numbers worth shouting home about but if one were to break down his match-wise performances, his utility to the team is obvious.
After a forgettable game against Sunrisers Hyderabad against whom he leaked 33 runs in just three overs, the Karnataka bowler redeemed himself with 0/21 in four overs against Mumbai Indians. He enjoyed another good outing when Rising Pune Supergiant came calling here, returning figures of 2/29 from four overs. Though these efforts came in a losing cause, Arvind stood out for his miserly spells.
Against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot, the left-armer went for a few towards the end when Ishan Kisan threw his bat at everything but he had accounted for the in-from Dinesh Karthik to peg the home team’s spirited chase.
“As a bowling unit, we are working well together,” said Arvind here on Thursday, ahead of RCB’s optional practice. “We are looking at good areas that we can bowl to. We’re not thinking about the batsmen.
We’re concentrating on the right areas and bowling in that region. I think we are clicking well. Last win was good. We were expecting a bigger win but unfortunately we gave away a lot of runs in the end, including me. It’s learning a lesson from that but it was a good win for us. We will take one match at a time and so we’re focusing on the next one now,” he noted.
Mills recovering
Their costliest buy Tymal Mills hasn’t featured in the last couple of games as he had been reportedly indisposed and Arvind hoped that he is available for RCB’s next match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Sunday as would AB de Villiers and Samuel Badree who had minor niggles.
“As of now he is doing well, let’s hope he comes back,” he said. “He’s a very handy bowler. He is young – around 24 - and very quick. He bowls back-of-the-hand delivery, changing his pace which I used to bowl before.
“It’s been many years and I haven’t changed my bowling... So I can pick one or two things from him.”