After George Bailey opted to bowl in Kings XI Punjab’s season opening fixture of the Pepsi Indian Premier League 2015, Anureet Singh got his team off to a good start with the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane in the second over. And while James Faulkner was on a rampage he came back in the last over to send back the Rajasthan Royals all-rounder and conceded only four runs off it. The wiry young pacer, who also ended Deepak Hooda’s cameo and helped KXIP restrict the opposition to 162 for seven, finished with figures of three for 23.

In a brief interview with iplt20.com after the loss to the Royals, Anureet reflected on his performance and the match. Excerpts from the interview:A tough game?Obviously it was.

This was the start of the season and one expects to get off to a good start and we too wanted that. We were playing here (in Pune) for the first time as a home ground and we didn’t have an idea of the wicket that much. But we still did alright; we bowled well, we lacked a bit in the batting, but we have the confidence to do well in the coming games.

You claimed the key wicket of Rahane up front. What was your plan to him? It is often said about me that I bowl the inswingers well, but I also try to bowl the away going delivery to a right-handed batsman. I have practiced that and now I am confident that I can work the ball both ways.

I had an idea that he would try and attack me a bit because I am playing against him for the first time. So I stuck to my basics and I got him out. You came back well to dismiss Deepak Hooda after he hit you for a four and six.

How did you trap him?I was to bowl according to a plan but it didn’t go my way at first. I was to bowl yorkers but the ball swung away a bit. So it came within his (striking) range and he hit me.

But I have been practicing the yorker and that helped me and I could get him out (bowled). What was your plan bowling the last over of the innings to James Faulkner who had collected 20 runs off Mitchell Johnson in the 19th over?My plan was to stick to my basics and the things that I have practiced. I wasn’t thinking that it is Faulkner who is batting.

If I had focused on that then I too would have been under pressure. He is a batsman, who has come here to play and we are all playing the game at the same level. Of course, he is a very good player who has been performing well and has proven himself.

But I stuck to my basics and that got me the wicket. Could you elaborate the basics?What I mean is if I am bowling in the death overs then I have practiced bowling round the wicket. I don’t try two-three things at the same time.

In death overs (the idea is to) try and bowl your best ball, what you have practiced. If it is his day, it can so happen that the batsman might hit you even then. But if your basics are strong and if you bowl your best ball, then you are less likely to get hit.

What do you take from this game?We would focus on the areas that we lacked here today. We would have to bat better and while bowling too. This wasn’t a wicket for 160 odd runs.

We should have restricted them to fewer runs (so that’s an area we would be working on). .

Source: http://www.iplt20.com/news/2015/features/5862/see-the-ball-not-the-bowler-deepak-hooda