“Very excited to take them on” - Andy Flower and Mo Bobat shares thoughts on RCB’s Eliminator clash against RR

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru are all set to lock horns with the Rajasthan Royals for the first Eliminator of IPL 2024. Coming back from the last spot in the group stages with six comprehensive wins on the trot, RCB would be pinning their hopes on a well-tuned batting unit while Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj can be the key to exploiting RR’s shaky numbers with the bat in recent times.

Ahead of this important fixture that would see the winner advance to the second Qualifier, RCB head coach Andy Flower underlined a few crucial pointers that will be doing the rounds ahead of the do-or-die match for both the teams. It has been a contrasting show for RCB and RR coming into the play-offs but it goes without a saying that in cricket, history is just for the books.

Andy said, “Rajasthan Royals have played some excellent cricket in this campaign. Yes they have tailed off a little recently but they are a dangerous side. They are well led. They have got some good cricket brains in their set-up. Of course they have played some excellent cricket to get into the final four. We are very excited to get the opportunity to take them on.”

He further added, “I think we have played a knock-out game six times in a row and the boys have done brilliantly to come through with the way that they’ve come through. I think that stands us in really good stead going into this effectively knockout phase.”

Breaking down on the key pointers, Flower stated, “The battle between their bowling experience and our batting unit that’s been firing on all cylinders just recently, that’ll be rather interesting to watch. They have got two very experienced spinners. They have got Boult and Sandeep. I think that is a key battle but I would say that the surface here would be excellent. It’s very hot, which is something that both teams will have to deal with even though it’s a night game.”

RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, also chimed in with his opinion and said, “It’s good to get on the stage. Obviously at the halfway point we had a lot of work to do. I don’t think we should pat ourselves on the back too much. It’s a great achievement of course and to do it from where we come from is a significant effort but this is where we wanted to be. I think we belong in the play-offs. So we have got work to do.”

Mo continued, “Playing pressurized games, games that feel like knockouts, games that feel like there’s something on the line, it becomes a habit and if you haven’t done it for a little while, it can take a bit of adjusting to. I do think it is a bit of an advantage that we are playing under that level of pressure so far and the guys have really embraced it.”

He concluded by saying, “I am sure that the fans will be out in full force here in Ahmedabad. I hope they make a lot of noise. And for us it’s really great to be able to repay their faith, ultimately how I view it. They stuck by us but in quite a good position it was really nice to be able to give them an evening the other night that they enjoyed. We can hopefully do that three more times.”