“Virat is in form, other players struggling for form, confidence…”: RCB coach Flower after loss to RR

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India]: Following his side’s six-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower said that all other batters except Virat Kohli are struggling with form and confidence and hence have not been able to put pressure on their opponents.

Virat Kohli’s blitzkrieg century went in vain as Jos Buttler’s thunderous hundred lit up the Sawai Mansingh Stadium to power Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Saturday.

Speaking after the match in the post-match press conference, Andy said that the team discusses strike rates and aggression in their game. The former Zimbabwe batter said that the team has to put opponents under pressure, but their top-five are not in very “sparkling” form, except Virat.

“We do discuss strike rates and aggression, it is part of the understanding of the T20 game,” said Flower.
“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 is just a fact that at the moment that our top five are not in sparkling form except Virat. It is a tough place to be. It is not from lack of effort, they are working hard, they are giving everything they have got. Just not firing at the moment. If we have got to turn this around, we need them firing,” he added.

Flower admitted that his team is not in great position after winning just one in five matches and the players need form and confidence.

“We are one from five and that is 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 are trying everything we can to make them feel strong and confident. As you have 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 have not found that form yet,” he said.

Flower said that the team was short of runs and could have scored 200 runs or more. He also said that the last over of the powerplay during the run-chase, during which Mayank Dagar gave away 20 runs to RR, cost the side some serious momentum.

“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, Reece Topley and Yash Dayal, then Mohammed Siraj were brilliant upfront but the last over of the powerplay cost us some serious momentum,” said Flower.

Coming to the match, RR put RCB to field first. Despite an opening partnership of 125 runs between skipper Faf Du Plessis (44 in 33 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Virat Kohli (113* in 72 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes), RCB failed to put up a fine total on the board, settling for 183/3 in their 20 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal (2/34) was the pick of the bowlers for RR. Nandre Burger also took a wicket.

In the run-chase, RR did lose Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck. But skipper Sanju Samson (69 in 42 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) joined forces with Jos Buttler (100* in 58 balls, with nine fours and four sixes), who roared back into form with a century in his 100th IPL match. Despite some quick wickets later, RR chased down the total with five balls and six wickets in hand.

Reece Topley (2/27) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB. Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj took a wicket each but it was not enough.

Buttler took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

RR is at the top spot, having won four of their four games, which gives them eight points. RCB is at eighth spot with a win in their five matches, giving them only two points.