RCB captain Faf du Plessis acknowledged that the team’s confidence has been low this season as a result of a run of defeats. Last night’s match saw his team lose for the sixth time in seven games, this time against Sunrisers Hyderabad, who broke their own record for the best score in IPL history.
“Amazing how many runs were scored today,” du Plessis remarked to the commentators following the match. We deserve praise for persevering and making an effort to come closer to the finish.
“In private, we experimented with a few things. It expresses faith in both the team and the bowling department. When you’re feeling low, it might be difficult to play cricket since there’s nowhere to run to. When you are not performing at your best, it is challenging and you have nobody to run to. It’s obviously difficult on a track like that with five bowlers. In order to attempt to take more wickets in the middle overs, I believe we will need to keep trying new things and perhaps introduce some leg spin.”
Du Plessis expressed satisfaction with the batting unit’s performance despite the defeat. At the beginning of the chase, they were competitive with the opposition, with du Plessis and Virat Kohli making the most of their powerplays. Dinesh Karthik had a spectacular last-ball innings as RCB ended with 262/7. “We have gone pretty well in the powerplay but there has been a bit of a drop after the powerplay and that’s something we want to get better as a batting unit, make sure the rate doesn’t go down and keep going up because that’s just the way the game has evolved with the scores the teams putting up,” the captain said.
“I’m really proud of the boys for raising their hands and persevering tonight with the bat.” When a team in today’s cricket matches has a large score like that, you frequently see the team fold like a house of cards. Although it was encouraging to see that we had some fight left in us, in the end, the final 30 to 40 runs were too much from a bowling standpoint.”
Du Plessis also emphasised the necessity for everyone in the group to take a break from the game for a little in order to refocus after another loss. RCB will only play their next game on Sunday, giving them some breathing room. “You need to go away and freshen your mind,” he stated. “This is such a cerebral game; sometimes it seems like your head would blow up after consecutive losses like this. It’s crucial to move on from it and ensure that, when you do return to your next task, you give it your all and fight to the fullest; you cannot play the game at 70% right now.”
In the meanwhile, Travis Head emphasised that SRH’s powerful middle was the main factor in granting him and Abhishek Sharma the authority to pursue any target on the powerplay. Head led SRH to a brilliant start, scoring fifty runs on the powerplay and a century in just 39 balls. “With our middle order, we most certainly gained a great deal of power. At the top of the hierarchy, Abhi and I make every effort to maximise it. We both want to try and attack the powerplay, even if we hit a bunch of sixes tonight.”
Head also gave his bowlers credit for bouncing back after the costly powerplay. In the middle overs, wickets fell consistently, which ultimately proved to make the difference. “Whether you are chasing 180, 190 or 280 you know what’s set out,” he stated. “The powerplay will constantly be under pressure. We pulled it back to 5 for 125, then DK had a fantastic innings to bring it within striking distance once again. We were aware that we would most likely need three or four excellent overs to secure the victory. It’s incredible to reflect on it while sitting here, but I believe you need to be ready for “one of those nights” for the bowlers. The wickets taken by Pat throughout the middle overs, in my opinion, set up the game.
The impact player rule, which has extended the batting order, is mostly to blame for the big scores we are seeing this season, the opener said. “Each guy has had their moments throughout the tournament whether it’s Abhi, Klaasen, Nitish and myself today,” he said. “That impact player is a good representation of international cricket. In the little period that I have been back playing international T20 cricket, Australia has big hitters at 7 and Matthew Wade at 7. You just keep going because you are aware of the strength you possess, which allows you to take more chances and extend the batting innings thanks to the impact player.”
