IPL: There is a lot still left in the tank, says RCB skipper Faf du Plessis

A second win in nine matches may have hardly helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) cause in staying alive in IPL 2024, but it has certainly boosted their morale as it ended a six-game losing streak on Thursday, 25 April.

RCB turned the tables on a high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs at the latter’s backyard on Thursday.

A batting line-up overreliant on Virat Kohli, the Purple Cap holder at the moment, and the bowling line-up leaking runs hardly made for a winning combination for the widely followed RCB – though luck deserted them in the previous game which they lost by a solitary run to Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden. Reflecting on the match in the dressing room, RCB’s assistant coach Malolan Rangarajan felt that skipper Faf du Plessis’ decision to bat first which helped them grab the initiative.     

“Faf, well done on taking the call of batting first. It might have been a little bit too obvious but saying that you want to bat first and make the opponent do something different, brilliant! And to follow that up with the start both of you (Du Plessis and Virat Kohli) gave was brilliant,” Malolan told the team.

After a firm start from the openers, RCB took control with a sparkling 50 off just 20 balls from Rajat Patidar, followed by all-round efforts from Cameron Green and impact player Swapnil Singh, as well as incisive bowling from Karn Sharma.

Du Plessis, not in the best of form this season, appreciated the fighting abilities of his boys over the last couple of matches culminating in a convincing win. “We have worked really hard for the last two games to get to this point. We have scratched, we have fought, and everyone can say that they feel like they have given everything, so we deserve this feeling. We are all sitting here feeling we are proud of our work but there is a lot left in the tank,” the South African veteran said.

Praising Patidar’s innings, which contained as many as five sixes, Malolan said: “Rajat, high-quality innings. It felt like the pitch was spinning a bit, keeping a bit low, but you made it look like we were playing on a concrete pitch.”

“You got us to a stage where even if we lost a couple of wickets we were ahead of the game. To me, that was one of the most important phases of the game and you stood up like the champion you are.”

 Patidar felt that the win had created a good environment and Swapnil agreed. “Obviously, when you win a game, the tempo in the team changes. Everyone feels good. Last two games also, we actually missed by a small difference. So, yeah, everyone would be happy, obviously, but, yeah, still a long way to go. One game at a time,” Swapnil added.