In the last edition of Indian Premier League, Virat Kohli took charge of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) wheels and slammed four hundreds to drive the franchise to the final.
The 28-year-old created a manual for other skippers to follow. Despite consistent cricket and star-studded performances, RCB could never cross the finishing line. But Kohli returned to the side, after nursing an injury following the long summer in whites, and hit a brisk 62 against Mumbai Indians this weekend. Ahead of their home rubber against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) on Sunday, the batting and fielding coach Trend Woodhill expects the out-of-form players to gain steam taking a leaf out of Kohli’s books.
Since RCB lost the in-form KL Rahul (also a handy stumper) and youngster Sarfaraz Khan due to injuries, Woodhill is expecting a big one by Chris Gayle and Mandeep Singh to balance it out. A cameo up the order and an anchor at the bottom is what the team requires to repeat their heroics. “Absence of players creates opportunities for other players and they need to use this to their advantage. Chris is hitting the ball very well in the net. He is not far from a big score and he can take a cue out of the knocks played by Kohli and Kieron Pollard (who smashed a 47-ball 70 to guide Mumbai Indians to a comfortable victory against RCB) last evening. They mastered the conditions and came out with flying colours,” said Woodhill, who is also a manager of Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and is driven by data and statistics.
People still remember Mandeep Singh’s breezy 45 off 18 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders two seasons ago. He often upped the ante for RCB. He has been quiet in this edition so far. “Mandeep is a quality player. He batted well in the lower middle-order last year and I am hopeful he will turn the screws on. He has quality,” he added.
With only 64 runs in four outings, Mandeep will be hungry to replay a flash of his genius. However, he did impress Woodhill by his effort to build a partnership on a coarse wicket in Indore against Kings XI Punjab. “He did well to build a partnership in Indore with AB de Villiers on a really tough surface. He started well in Hyderabad as well, so he will get his chance and I am sure he will grab it,” reasoned Woodhill.
With AB and Kohli back in the side, RCB now have a chance to do an encore. “But we need to capitalise on their comeback and build our fortunes quickly in their presence,” he added.
The team needs to put up gargantuan totals and when required to chase, hunt it like it is their prey. RCB need to decode RPS and Gujarat Lions to enter the elite list, now being enjoyed by Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.