Sharjah, Sep 25 (IANS): Punjab Kings assistant coach Andy Flower said that captain KL Rahul had a little bit of luck with dropped catches but looked in good form. He also felt that spending 20 overs in the heat of Dubai left Rahul tired.
"The two openers (Rahul and Mayank Agarwal), we know what class acts they are and that's how they played. I know the skipper had a little bit of luck with a few dropped catches but still he looked in good form. I think he was quite tired actually. I think the 20 overs in the heat took quite a lot out of him," said Flower in a video released by the franchise on Saturday.
"And they both spent quite a long time in England in the cooler weather. So, this humidity and heat takes a little bit of getting used to. But they showed such class in their batting. It was a real pleasure to watch them bat. I loved it as a person who loves watching cricket and class players, their timing and choice of shots was wonderful," added Flower.
Flower mentioned that Agarwal had a bit of struggle to start off but then found his groove quickly. "I talked about resilience in bowling and fielding. Our fielding was sensational by the way. I thought Mayank showed some resilience early on because he struggled initially. I think he might have had 7 off 12 balls and hadn't timed the ball for quite a long period. Then he just took off and then we can say Mayank evolved. It was really a pleasure to watch him pick out his boundary shots and then take the pressure off KL."
Flower praised the efforts made by pacers Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh in bringing Punjab into the game against Rajasthan Royals in Dubai despite losing by two runs. "I could cry. It was such a pity for us. We played a lot of good cricket, not perfect cricket by any means but a lot of good cricket. We came back in the field with great determination and resilience to stay in it that long and our two seamers -- Arshdeep and Shami bowled so beautifully and skillfully. Taking six for 21 in the last four overs, really got us back in that game."