Rajat Bhatia is a typical journeyman in the IPL seventh edition who is perfectly at home at the Feroz Shah Kotla; says he has shifted to the genre of ‘smart cricket’ with Rajasthan Royals
Rajat Bhatia
New Delhi: Rajat Bhatia is a typical journeyman in the Indian Premier League who is perfectly at home at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Barring just one thing -- he isn’t representing Delhi. Not in this league anyway. He has shifted to the genre of ‘smart cricket’ with Rajasthan Royals.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rajat Bhatia
All Royals interactions will be about the two runs taken by Steve Smith and Shane Watson against Kolkata Knight Riders in their last match at Abu Dhabi. That left Bhatia with an opening to take a little dig at his former team.
“Everyone in our team knew about the calculation,” Bhatia said, referring to the two runs. “I don’t know whether KKR knew about this, but we knew what was required at that stage.”
Bhatia could be excused a little smile, though it was difficult to detect beyond the oversized shades to match Royals’ violent orange practice mufti. After all, it was his former skipper Gautam Gambhir who made a hash of the Super Over fielding, especially off the last ball, to hand over the win.
“The good thing about our team is that we play smart cricket rather than aggressive cricket,” Bhatia added. “As far as the last ball double is concerned, when players like Steve Smith and Shane Watson are playing, there is no need to tell them anything.”
The team’s cohesion was evident at the Kotla on Thursday. Mentor Rahul Dravid was at his committed best, and every player was in the middle, making the most of their first practice session in India.
“Every guy is a superstar in our team,” Bhatia responded when asked who the stars in the side were. “That’s one of the reasons why they have been picked. If you are not a superstar, they wouldn’t have picked you. It’s not about Watson or any guy who is sitting out. Everybody is getting chances.
“We have been told the role we will be playing. Everybody knows that. It’s not like a foreign player will get a chance and domestic player will be sitting out. No one in the team is overshadowed,” he added.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
