RCB Bold Diaries: Think tank and Harshal Patel assess the playing conditions in Pune

The IPL caravan for the Royal Challengers Bangalore moves out of Mumbai and to Pune on Saturday as the team faces the Mumbai Indians. How different are the conditions from the other 2 venues RCB have played in so far in Mumbai?

Mike Hesson gave a quick assessment of the playing surface. “It’s a fresh pitch, all the previous three games have been played on fresh pitches. Not any recent information on this particular one; there’s plenty of grass on it, it looks a good surface. Lot of green grass so might look a little bit different tomorrow,” explained the Director of Cricket operations.

If that was about the playing surface, how about the outfield? Does that make a difference? Fielding coach and head of scouting Malolan Rangarajan explained, “The surface is completely different from what we’ve been used to at DY Patil and Wankhede. There’s a lot of difference between the two grounds themselves, but this seems to be a lot more softer. And that’s been addressed to our players also.”

Would the surface being softer make it less safer for players to dive? “Not necessarily safe or unsafe, because the technique of diving is consistent in every field. It’s just that if it’s a little bit harder, you travel a lot more when you dive; when it’s a bit softer, you don’t travel a lot more,” explained Malolan Rangarajan. “You would practically travel a lot less. Even if you’re sliding for the ball, unless there’s any dew, we don’t expect any dew tomorrow either, not as much as the venues in Mumbai, you’re looking to slide a lot more closer to the ball because you know you’re not going to travel a lot once you slide. The technique is the same, it’s just that, it does play a little on your mind, that on a soft surface you might plow into it, but it’s just the technique. If you’re consistent with your technique, you don’t have to be worried about getting hurt,” he added.

The MCA stadium in Pune is known for its picturesque backdrop. Does that have any impact on the players at all? Harshal Patel answered, “It does. You get a couple of seconds in between deliveries and you look around, and there’s a big mountain behind you, it gives you a little bit of sense of calm and tranquility. It’s a lovely venue, I love playing in this stadium, it’s going to be a little challenging, there’s going to be a lot of tactical changes that we will have to make considering the breeze and the dimensions of the ground. Also, we have not played a game here, so we will need to assess conditions really quickly and adapt to them.”

RCB will be playing three games at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune over the course of the league phase of the IPL 2022 season.