Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League to enter the final of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League on Friday, 27 May as well. Jos Buttler smashed a century to chase the target of 158 runs with 11 balls remaining. However, this would be the Royals’ second final appearance after the 2008 trophy campaign in the inaugural season under the captaincy of Late Shane Warne. And, RR head coach Kumar Sangakkara called the win very satisfying as well.
While speaking after the game, he credited Jos Buttler for his exceptional batting ability. Buttler has already smashed four centuries in the current edition of the cash-rich league and has equalled Virat Kohli’s record for the most number of centuries in a single season. “Jos Buttler backs his strengths and manoeuvres the bowling to bowl more and more to his strengths. The great thing is he can accelerate anytime. Overall, he is a wonderful guy who thinks deeply about his game and himself,” Sangakkara said.
READ HERE: India will struggle if Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma don’t score, says Mohammad Hafeez
Meanwhile, calling the win very satisfying, the coach also said that it took a lot of dedication to reach the finals of the league. He gave the credit to Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy in particular, claiming that they have battled a lot in the recent days of the IPL as well. He also added that a certain process they have followed this season and a lot of work went into data to figure out a process as well.
“All the planning, all the hard work. Really tough with the close defeat to Gujarat Titans but the guys got back up and came back strongly. The entire bowling unit was outstanding. Special mention to Prasidh. We had 16 to defend in the last game, and three sixes by Miller. It can cause a huge dent in the confidence. But he was honest, he was great in the nets. Then Trent Boult. And Obed McCoy, his mother, has been quite ill back home, but he has been able to put that aside. She is recovering well,” Kumar Sangakkara said.
READ HERE: Gary Kirsten all set to work with Hardik Pandya
“At the auction table, we spent 90-95% of our purse on putting together our first XI. We worked hard on data to work on the players we wanted. We put emphasis on experience at the moment. We have a spattering of youngsters who will become stars later, but our first XI has a strong share of seasoned internationals. Full credit to Giles Lindsay, our analyst, Zubin Barucha and the rest of the staff. Wins don’t just happen. It takes a lot of planning, hard work, and execution on the field,” Kumar Sangakkara concluded.
