IPL: RCB will rely on players who featured in Ind-Eng series for Ahmedabad leg, says Bangar
Apr 25, 2021
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 25 : Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batting consultant Sanjay Bangar feels his side will have to rely on players who featured in the India-England T20I series as the Virat Kohli-led team gears up for their Ahmedabad leg of the ongoing Indian Premier League which gets underway from Tuesday.
RCB faced its first defeat in the ongoing tournament on Sunday evening after suffering a 69-run loss against Chennai Super Kings.
RCB next plays their upcoming games in Ahmedabad but the side hasn't got enough time to get accustomed to the environemt at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
"At the moment we have a very quick changeover for the next game, we have just one day and we will be traveling on that day so we won't be able to practice in Ahmedabad. So we have to rely a lot on experiences of the guys who have played for the Indian team as to how the wicket in Ahmedabad is."
"Whether it's a black soil wicket or a red soil wicket, we have to try and access as to what conditions are there and what scores we should look at."
"After the first game in Ahmedabad, we have three more games and those are pretty spaced out, so we will have plenty of time to get accustomed to it. All the wickets on four venues are different and we are looking forward to the Ahmedabad leg," said Bangar while replying to a query from ANI in a virtual press conference.
Against RCB, Ravindra Jadeja whacked 37 runs in the final over of CSK's innings and then came back to pick three wickets as MS Dhoni-led side thrashed RCB by 69 runs. The all-rounder smashed 62 runs in just 28 balls, with the help of five 6s and four 4s, as CSK scored 191 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, RCB managed to score 122/9 and suffered their first defeat of the ongoing IPL.
"He (Jadeja) has gained a lot of confidence, right from 2016 he started playing regularly in the Test format. He kept on making contributions during India's overseas tour also," said Bangar.
"I think he has grown as a batsman and we all knew that he had fantastic potential, he has scored three triple hundreds in domestic cricket. So it is good to see he is contributing to Team India's win and CSK's win too. He was the game-changer today," he added.
Jadeja took on Harshal Patel, who has been the pick of the RCB bowlers and whacked five sixes in his final over. Harshal had given just 14 runs in three overs before Jadeja came firing on all cylinders in the final six balls of CSK's innings.
"Harshal is the one who has been a standout performer for us because if you see he is already the purple cap holder. He has been instrumental in RCB's win," Bangar opined.
"Obviously he had a bad day but don't forget in the middle he was the one who brought us back in the game. He will learn from it, he will assess what went wrong," he added.
RCB will now lock horns with Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.