RCB Bold diaries: Head Coach Sanjay Bangar gives his insights ahead of RCB vs KKR

The first game of the season for RCB against Punjab Kings might not have produced a favorable result, but there were plenty of positives to take from a close game which could have swung either way. With the focus now shifting to the second game of the season against KKR, two crucial points will be up for grabs.

Ahead of the fixture, Head coach Sanjay Bangar gave his thoughts on the upcoming game. Losing a close contest could feel like a sucker punch. When asked about the mood in the camp after such a close defeat, Bangar said, “It was a close game of cricket, and I think what happened was we showed great tenacity. In the powerplay, while batting, we didn’t actually get off to a good start. While bowling also we didn’t get off to a good start, but kept pulling it back. Fabulous effort from Faf, Virat and DK to get us past 200; that was a very good score on that track. But obviously with the kind of start that they(Punjab Kings) got and the dew factor coming in, batting did become a little easier in the second innings. All in all, we were very close to where we want to be. From that perspective I feel that the mood in the camp is very upbeat.”

What to expect from our opposition for the game, KKR? “KKR is a good team, they are a successful franchise. Last season also, they managed to beat us in the playoffs,” said Bangar. “As you would know, in this league, the best league in the world, it’s very competitive. KKR, they have their strengths, they have their areas we can focus on and can probably edge them out; we’re concentrating on those areas.”

One of the senior members of the squad Dinesh Karthik has spent plenty of years at KKR, and seen the likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine from close quarters, keeping wickets to them. Does information get passed on to help RCB? “Of course, that’s expected of a professional cricketer like DK. We had a chat, more so about how to approach batting against Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy because he’s got the best possible view having kept wickets against them. So he understands what works and what doesn’t work. So, whatever inputs that he’s given us, we’ve managed to pass it on to our batsmen, and they’ve made their gameplans accordingly,” admitted the Head coach.

RCB play their second game of the season against KKR at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.