The number one spot was important – Andy Flower explains RCB’s approach in SRH chase
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru played the Sunrisers Hyderabad twice in IPL 2026 - first opening up their campaign with a resounding win at home, before losing against the Orange Army in Hyderabad.
In their last group stage game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, RCB were chasing 255. The opening partnership of Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer came hard in Hyderabad against the Sunrisers’ bowlers, smashing 60 runs in the first 4.3 overs. However, once the opening duo fell, RCB switched gears and eventually settled down for a total that saw them finish at the top of the points table.
A controlled half-century from Rajat Patidar saw them cross the 166-run barrier that ensured that they were going to finish in the top two and then they leapfrogged the 179-run mark which guaranteed a top-spot in the points table irrespective of the game’s upshot.
Talking on RCB’s Trophy Quest – The Second Act, head coach Andy Flower opened up on how the coaching staff assessed the chase and shed some light on the message that came to the batters from the dressing room before they walked out.
Explaining the stakes, Andy Flower said, “The number one spot was important because if there'd been rain in Dharamsala, that would have meant, if you're number one, you go straight through to the final. If you're number two in the league, you've got to go to Chandigarh and qualify.”
Revealing the message that came from the dressing room, Flower said, “We decided upon allowing the openers to go out there and be aggressive, as if they were chasing 255. But we explained to the middle order that the 166 and 179 steps that we needed to tick off on our way to chasing a bigger target. Rajat led that in a very measured pace in the middle.”
Also shedding some light on the consequence of the game, Flower added, “That would have provided some frustration, perhaps in the crowd watching the game, they wouldn't have seen us try to chase 255. But it was a pragmatic approach, and the dressing room wrapping up that evening, we had to address that situation.”
Flower concluded by stating, “We didn’t want any negative feeling around the fact that we'd lost the game or didn't really take on the 2-5-5 chase to permeate through the group, and very soon after, everyone was focused on the next game and the Hyderabad game was in the past and forgotten.”
