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RCB Bold diaries: Mike Hesson previews RCB’s top of the table clash vs Lucknow Super Giants

19 Apr, 2022
Editor
RCB Bold diaries: Mike Hesson previews RCB’s top of the table clash vs Lucknow Super Giants
19 Apr, 2022 By Editor

There’s always a sense of excitement in the air on the eve of gameday, and the evening before the game against Lucknow Super Giants was no different. There’s also an added degree of freshness to this encounter, with RCB taking on a brand new entrant to the IPL stage.


Add to that the fact that the two teams have nothing but net run rate to differentiate them on the points table - even the sequence of Ws and Ls reading exactly the same for both teams, one knows this game is going to be a cracking encounter. A closer look at the teams tells us that the two teams are not only closely matched based on the results, but also on the team composition. Director of Cricket Operations, Mike Hesson, threw more light on the subject. “Yeah, very similar balance in terms of the way we structure up and we look to use our bowlers. Obviously, we both bat relatively deep in the order; it’s something that both teams looked at at the auction. Both well-balanced sides with some quality up top and power through the middle,” said Hesson.


Is there an added advantage or disadvantage to playing a team that closely mirrors yours? “I don’t think it makes a huge difference to be honest because we pretty much focus on what we do from a batting perspective. Sure, there’s a matter of matchups but, we don’t get too caught up in those, making sure we don’t have two left-handers against an offie, and with the short side, making sure that we always have an opportunity to access the short side. That’s probably more important than the matchup. From a bowling point of view, I think we match up pretty well against them. You know our top order like pace on the ball, they’ve got plenty of pace up front. They’ve got some quality spinners, very crafty spinners in the likes of Krunal, and obviously, Bishnoi is quite a unique character. There’s a bit of work gone into how we’re gonna combat that,” he explained.


With teams evenly matched, there’s plenty of traffic in the middle of the points table even as the tournament approaches its halfway mark. How does that affect the way we play? “We are continuing to try and improve, and that’s the constant message that we’re sending everybody. Whether we win, whether we lose, we review with a bit of detail, and we’re trying to get better. The reality is you have to be playing your best cricket towards the back end of the tournament. Not only to progress, but if you do progress, you have to be playing some good cricket too. We’re pretty methodical in terms of that. We still have players who haven’t quite hit their straps yet, who are training really hard, hitting the ball nicely, ball starting to come out nicely for the likes of Siraj. We’re just sort of focused on us,” he concluded. 

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