Bengaluru: As they return to M Chinnaswamy Stadium after nearly three weeks, Royal Challengers Bengaluru is upbeat going into the last third of its IPL 2024 campaign. A vital component of RCB’s back-to-back wins in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad was their attacking fast bowling; head coach Andy Flower is eager to see more of that from the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal in today’s clash against Gujarat Titans in front of the 12th Man Army.
“Our batsmen will definitely be looking to bat out there in the middle not only on a good batting deck but in front of our brilliant crowd. What I have enjoyed seeing is our fast bowling unit bowling in a really attacking fashion. We have seen them take more wickets in the powerplay in the last three games. So we are looking at seeing more of the attacking fast bowling from the likes of Yash Dayal and particularly Siraj who has been outstanding particularly with his yorkers,” said head coach Flower on RCB match day..
With four games to go in RCB’s IPL season, Flower is firmly keeping the faith. “Playoff hopes are still alive and that is a brilliant position, obviously we would have liked to have been much closer to the playoffs than we are but we are still there, the chances are still there and we are still believing,” he said.
Meanwhile, captain Faf du Plessis is proud of how his team has shown character and turned things around over the last few matches. “Pressure is always there for performance, that is part of the game. Pressure is there when you are winning as well, you need to perform. For me the nice thing from a captaincy point of view is that we are playing the style of cricket that we have been wanting to play for a long so it is more a happiness that we are doing ourselves justice whereas before, the opposite was happening.
“Proud of the boys and the way they have stood up. It takes a lot of character when you are down in the dumps, so the boys have responded really well and the way they have played the last three games has been really good,” Du Plessis said.
There has been some rain in the build-up to tonight’s match but coach Flower does not feel it will be a major factor. “The rain hasn’t really changed a lot in our preparation or selection. It is brilliant that Chinnaswamy has such a good drainage system, so I don’t think that is a big factor but I do know that Bengaluru needs the water so it is brilliant to have some of this beautiful rain,” coach Flower said.
(IANS)
