Watching Virat Kohli from the dugout is a privilege – Andy Flower

Virat Kohli continues to be the shining torch in RCB’s echelons, donning the Red and Gold threads now for all the 18 years in history of IPL. Andy Flower, RCB’s head coach, opened up on how Virat’s presence in the side and spending time alongside the legend has been an honour for him.

Talking on the latest RCB Bold Diaries video, Andy Flower pointed out that senior players like Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis plot out their games. In contrast to the youngsters, who are still learning the ropes, it is an honour to watch the superstars play. Flower underlined that one of their key roles as a coach is to bring the young guns of the sport up to the same speed as their senior teammates.

Shedding light on the senior players, Flower stated, “Of course, some of the great players, watching Virat for instance, practice interacting with him like around team meetings and stuff and listening to him talk and then watching him play from up close in the dugout, that is an absolute privilege. Working with a young player in a franchise situation like this is different to working with a Virat or a Faf du Plessis. Some of these older guys have worked out their games really well and understand their games and themselves. They understand how they react to pressure.”

He further added, “The younger guys don’t know themselves as well as a general observation. And our role is to help them gain that awareness. A very proud moment or period was last year when we were under a lot of pressure, we’d won one game from eight and then we turned it around, won six in a row and got through to the play-offs. The way we handled ourselves as a group then, I was very proud of.”

He concluded with a word about Rajat Patidar, stating, “I’ve liked what I have seen so far. It’s the start of the tournament and there’s a long way to go. But we couldn’t have asked for a better start from Rajat. He led from the front with the bat. It’s important for your leader to evidence how he wants to play his own actions and he’s doing that. I’m enjoying it, growing a great relationship with him, hopefully he’s in the same boat. Hopefully, he’s enjoying it as well.”