"He missed two-three full tosses"- Sachin Tendulkar on how RCB failed to exploit Jonny Bairstow's weakness in IPL 2022

Former Indian legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar believes it was Punjab Kings (PBKS) opener Jonny Bairstow's blazing knock of 66(29) that took the game completely away from the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last night.

Bairstow launched an onslaught on RCB bowlers and helped Punjab plunder 83 runs in the powerplay. However, Sachin Tendulkar believes the bowlers failed to realize that the English opener wasn't putting away fuller deliveries.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Tendulkar explained how Bairstow feasted on the short-pitched deliveries that the RCB bowlers were dishing out to him. He said:

"One thing that I feel RCB failed to pick was that Bairstow wasn't putting away the fuller deliveries. He missed two-three full tosses and also didn't capitalize on some overpitched deliveries. He knew that most of the balls would be away from him and he used that to his advantage. His on-side game was impressive and he hurt Bengaluru the most upfront."

"Was very impressed with the way Jonny Bairstow batted"- Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar feels Bairstow's attacking intent disrupted RCB's bowling plans. The 49-year-old stressed on how the opener focused on timing the ball and not just muscle it to the fence. He stated:

"Was very impressed with the way Jonny Bairstow batted. RCB surprised Punjab by introducing Maxwell in the first over. But the way he smashed him for a six over long off showed how well he used his hands and didn't try to use brute strength."

Bairstow also took down RCB's premier pacer Josh Hazlewood and smashed him for 22 runs in his opening over. Sachin Tendulkar dissected how Bairstow targeted the on-side and added:

"He was smart in batting against Josh Hazlewood, who generally tends to bowl a bit short of a good length. Bairstow didn't use long levers, but kept his hands closer to his body and targeted the square leg and mid-wicket region."

RCB's net run rate has been dented after their comprehensive loss against Punjab. If other results don't go their way, they might need to beat the Gujarat Titans in their final league game by a big margin to make it to the playoffs.