After yet another poor batting performance that saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru face their fourth defeat in five games, head coach Andy Flower admitted that RCB were short of runs on a Jaipur surface that got the help in dew. In the game when Virat Kohli registered yet another IPL ton, none of the other RCB batters could manage to contribute well. Having posted 183 on the board, RCB failed to restrict the RR as they chased it down with ease, where Jos Buttler smashed a ton and skipper Sanju Samson scored a fifty.
“We do discuss strike rates and aggression, it’s part of the understanding of the T20 game,” said Flower at the post-match press conference. “The level of aggression has to be above a certain threshold and you have to always be putting the opposition under pressure. Certainly taking the aggressive option, especially on pitches like today. It’s just a fact that at the moment that our top five aren’t in sparkling form except Virat. It’s a tough place to be. It’s not from lack of effort, they’re working hard, they’re giving everything they’ve got. Just not firing at the moment. If we’ve got to turn this around, we need them firing.”
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However, Virat Kohli’s hundred, also the joint-slowest IPL century of all time, was the only positive although skipper Faf du Plessis did score a bit. The century opening stand had helped RCB post a decent total as well. However, once the partnership was broken, RCB couldn’t manage to do well.
“We were a bit light (on runs) I thought, given the base we had, we were about 107/0 in the 12th over, so we should have got upwards of 200 being in that position on a good pitch. But we started well with the ball, Topley and Yash, then Siraj were brilliant upfront but the last over of the powerplay cost us some serious momentum,” he further added.
“We’re one from five and that’s not a position any side wants to be. Yes, we do have some issues with our batting. We got Virat in superb form but other guys are struggling for form and confidence. We’re trying everything we can to make them feel strong and confident. As you’ve seen in this competition, scores and aggression of teams are only going one way. So the guys need all the form and confidence to put the opposition under pressure. We haven’t found that form yet,” Andy Flower concluded.
