IPL 2024: RCB Coach Andy Flower urges increased aggression after disappointing batting display against RR
Royal Challengers Bangalore's head coach, Andy Flower, highlights the importance of aggression in response to the team's recent batting struggles despite Virat Kohli's impressive century.
FollowAndy Flower, head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), acknowledged the team's need for heightened aggression after another disappointing batting performance led to their fourth defeat in five games. Despite Virat Kohli's commendable century, RCB's batting lineup failed to support him effectively against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Flower emphasised the necessity for a proactive approach and discussed the importance of maintaining a certain level of aggression to keep the pressure on the opposition, particularly on challenging pitches. While Kohli's century stood out, RCB's overall batting form remains a concern, with Flower emphasizing the urgency for improvement to turn the team's fortunes around in the tournament. With RCB's playoff prospects looking uncertain, both Flower and skipper Faf du Plessis stressed the need for the team to elevate their performance levels and adapt to the high-scoring trends seen across the league.
"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, Topley and Yash, then Siraj were brilliant upfront but the last over of the powerplay cost us some serious momentum."
"We're one from five and that's 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're trying everything we can to make them feel strong and confident. As you've 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 haven't found that form yet."
"Batting out there with Virat tonight, we found the wicket was tricky and low in the first innings. In our heads, when we were batting, we felt 190 would be a good score. I did feel that maybe the last over or two, maybe there were 10-15 runs more that we could have maximized towards the end," Faf said.
"But if you look at how their spinners bowled through the middle, it was tough to hit; the ball was staying quite low. And a good decision by them to chase, you could see in the evening, with the dew, it played much nicer. But yeah, you feel in hindsight that you could have pushed a little bit harder and get through that 190-195 mark."
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