RCB captain Rajat Patidar has recovered from his finger injury, and he is fit to play against SRH, confirmed head coach Andy Flower on Thursday, May 22. However, Patidar had sustained a finger injury while fielding against Chennai Super Kings on May 3 as well. The forced break on May 8 and the tournament’s rescheduling gave him the much-needed time to recover as well.
“Rajat Patidar, for one, has given his right hand a little bit of time to settle after getting quite a bad knock. So, he is fit to bat, which is great,” said Flower.
However, RCB haven’t played a single match in nearly 20 days. They were about to face Kolkata Knight Riders at home on May 17 — the official restart of IPL 2025 — but that game was eventually washed out due to the rain at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. But Flower said that the long break wouldn’t hurt their momentum. Instead, he believes it also helped improve the players’ mental space as well.
ALSO READ: “I did get a couple of hints” – AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement
“We are not too concerned about that (the break). I think the boys have worked really well over the entire season and have played some superb cricket throughout. Yes, a little break now, but for a couple of our players, that has actually been a healthy thing,” Flower again said in the pre-match press conference.
However, RCB will now play all their matches, including the knockouts, away from home. And, Flower was confident, saying that the team’s stunning record — six wins from six away matches as well. Notably, RCB were earlier scheduled to play SRH at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, but the match was shifted to Lucknow due to a poor weather forecast in Bengaluru as well.
“We are obviously disappointed not to be playing tomorrow’s game in Bengaluru. As you know, we struggled in our home conditions initially, and it took us a little while to adjust our game plan according to the pitch. But we did adjust and won a couple of important games at home. We’ve got a good record away. We’ve been able to flex for the away conditions really well, so I am backing our players to do that again tomorrow. So, we’re okay playing here in Lucknow,” Andy Flower concluded.
