The Rajasthan Royals used four different bowlers in the first four overs of the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings. It has almost become a norm for captain Steven Smith to shuffle his bowlers frequently and look to ask as many questions as possible off opposition batsmen. It was no different here in Visakhapatnam, as Smith started off with Tim Southee; Chris Morris shared the new ball with him and to everyone’s surprise Deepak Hooda came to bowl some spin in the third over. Till then Smith was still searching for a breakthrough and David Warner had just about begun to find the sweet spot of his bat. Smith threw the ball to Dhawal Kulkarni next and the fast bowler replied to his captain’s call and how. In his very first over he had opener Shikhar Dhawan caught behind; this after being thrashed for a boundary a ball earlier. “It was a bad ball to be honest,” exclaimed Kulkarni in a chat with iplt20.com. “It was an over-pitched ball and I bowled at one of Shikhar’s strong points. The shot to the cover area off an over-pitched delivery is one of his biggest strengths and every time you bowl to him there he will hit you for runs. It was a wrong ball.” Kulkarni though, was quick to make amends the very next ball. “I just went back to my bowling run-up after being hit for that boundary and recollected the area I had to bowl to him at. I had to bowl to my strength and to his weakness. The delivery with which I got his wicket was the ideal line and length to Shikhar and I got him caught behind.” The pitch at the ACA-VDCA Stadium didn’t have a lot of runs to show after Sunrisers Hyderabad scored just 127 runs in the first essay. Kulkarni believed thriving on basics and keeping the approach simple was key to being successful on that pitch. “The ball was holding up a bit and it was important to hit the correct line and lengths. There was a bit of swing for the new ball and that was because of the conditions. The pitch didn’t have a lot of pace and removing the pace off the ball was important. “It was very important to have your basics right to be successful on this wicket. I backed my abilities and hit the right spots on the wicket. I have always been a positive bowler and to pick wickets has always been at the top of the list. I have been given a responsibility in the team of picking up wickets upfront in the powerplay and to restrict the run-flow. I am glad I am doing that at the moment.” Dhawan was not his lone victim. Kulkarni in his very next over had KL Rahul trapped leg before. Rahul’s wicket didn’t go quite as planned, he explains. “The ball seamed. I had bowled it keeping in mind the out-swinger but because of the pitch the ball gripped the surface and nipped back in,” laughed Kulkarni. The smile on his face continued as he began to describe his satisfaction to finally hit the ground running and be amongst wickets. After all, Kulkarni couldn’t feature in any of the fixtures in India’s tour to Australia and the World Cup. “It is very satisfying to be playing cricket and also picking up wickets at the same time,” he said. “I was in Australia for close to three months without a game which was a bit disappointing. But I tried to look at the positive side of it. I utilized that time in fine tuning my skills and working on my bowling. It is good to be back and back with some wickets.” The Royals didn’t sweat much in chasing down 128, but it did get a bit close towards the end as the game went on till the last over. James Faulkner finished things off in style with a boundary to seal the deal and make it four wins in a row in the competition. “There were some nerves in the dugout since the game went till the last over. Praveen Kumar bowled the last over really well but we were confident that we would win. It is very satisfying to get four wins in a row and we always wanted to start the first half of the tournament on a high. To get four in four is a massive boost for us.”