No home advantage in T20s: Rahul Sharma

PWI spinner says RCB simply outplayed his team on the day

It’s been a rather long IPL season for the eighth-place Pune Warriors India. Their slide has been somewhat of a shock for their fans as well as the team itself. A 35-run loss against the Royal Challengers Bangalore makes it a draining seventh consecutive defeat for PWI. But all is not lost for the Pune franchise. A side filled with youth can only improve over time and the Warriors have at least that on their side. Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma is part of that group that hopes to make PWI an IPL force in the near future. The lanky spinner has failed to earn a permanent spot in the playing XI, but his will to help the team improve is evident.

The Warriors leggie took some time out for a brief chat with iplt20.com where he stressed on the need to improve in all departments.

Excerpts:

Is PWI’s poor home form the reason behind their current position?

You can’t say which team is better in this [Twenty20] format. Whoever plays well, wins the match regardless of an away or a home game. They [RCB] played better today and won the game.

What areas do the Warriors need to improve?

Sometimes our batting is not good enough, and at times [it’s] our bowling. We are giving 20 runs in a couple of overs, which is causing a lot of problems. If we work on that, we will win more matches.

What was it like to play under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy?

It was a different experience as every captain is not the same. It was good to play under him.

Did you have any special plans while bowling to Chris Gayle?

I planned for four days on how to bowl to him and I did pretty well today. He is the only batsman who can hit any bowler, and it’s not a big thing for him to hit five sixes in an over.

What do you think about Steve Smith’s captaincy?

He is a very young captain and has captained the Sydney Sixers to Big Bash [League] glory.