‘Used to bowling with someone better than me’ – Moeen on Varun pairing

Moeen Ali on Varun Chakaravarthy and KKR's Win

Moeen Ali stepped up on his KKR debut, playing the perfect replacement role, giving away just 23 runs off his four overs while picking up big wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana.

"I was just trying to do my job. Obviously, Sunil Narine was a big miss for us. Just tried to stick to my strengths and spin the ball as much as I can, and just contain."

The surface in Guwahati was on the slower side, which helped Moeen's spin, and his accuracy made things difficult for the batters during the middle overs. Varun Chakaravarthy's magic also played a crucial role in RR's 56-run innings.

"It was a good wicket, had a bit of everything. A bit of spin, a bit of seam. Obviously it spun nicely but not massive spin, just enough spin. A bit tacky but a nice ground to play."

Moeen underlined the importance of getting off the mark at the earliest, and KKR's team performance was outstanding, with everyone bowling well against a good side.

"It's nice to get a win within your first couple of games so that you don't overthink things. Today was a great team performance, everyone bowled well against a good side. We contained really well and never really let them get ahead of the game, which then made our batting a bit easier."

Moeen's contrasting nature with Varun worked well in tandem, with Moeen bowling tight and Varun building pressure to get wickets. Moeen's best moment was when he produced a ripping off-break to castle Nitish Rana.

"That ball was a nice one. I was just trying to spin it as much as I can. I knew that there was a bit of pressure being built and I just tried to bowl in a good area, spin it as much as I can."

Moeen acknowledged the need for more balanced games in the IPL, with games like the one in Guwahati adding balance to the format. He also felt that bowlers need to evolve with their skills in this unforgiving format.

"India is a great place to bat. But on wickets like this, you aren't going to get 300, you probably aren't even going to get 200. It's great to have these games in between those (high scoring) games. Big scoring games are great to see but it also gives a false sense of security, which is a bit too much. The game is developing fast and people are just fearless at the moment. The bowlers do have to come up with something, it is more important than ever before."