IPL 2024: RCB assistant coach credits Faf’s decision to bat first for morale-boosting win vs SRH

As Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) registered their second win of the IPL 2024 with a morale-boosting victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), assistant coach Malolan Rangarajan lauded skipper Faf du Plessis’ proactive decision at the toss to bat first to put the opponents on the backfoot right from the start.

Riding on half-centuries by Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar along with a brilliant all-round performance by Cameron Green, who scored an unbeaten 37 and claimed 2-12, RCB handed SRH a 35-run defeat and registered their first win after six successive defeats. “Faf, well done on taking the call of batting first. It might have been a little bit too obvious but saying that you want to bat first and make the opponent do something different, is brilliant! And to follow that up with the start both of you (Du Plessis and Virat Kohli) gave was brilliant,” Malolan said while addressing the team in the dressing room after the win.

After a firm start from the openers, RCB took further control with a sparkling 50 off just 20 balls from Rajat Patidar, followed by all-round efforts from Cameron Green and Swapnil Singh, as well as incisive bowling from Karn Sharma. Skipper Du Plessis appreciated the fighting abilities of his boys over the last couple of matches, which had culminated in this convincing win.

Malolan praised Patidar’s innings, which contained as many as five sixes amid a remarkable hitting display against spin. “Rajat, high-quality innings. It felt like the pitch was spinning a bit, keeping a bit low, but you made it look like we were playing on a concrete pitch. You got us to a stage where even if we lost a couple of wickets we were ahead of the game. To me, that was one of the most important phases of the game and you stood up like the champion you are,” he said.

Karn picked up two key wickets, giving away just 29 runs from his four overs, and Malolan pointed out how hard the leg-spinner had prepared before the match. “Karn, I remember speaking to you maybe a week back, had a very honest chat about how you felt about not playing and the work you have put in behind the scenes. You worked very well specifically for every batter before the game, and very happy to see how you ended up bowling today, well done,” Malolan said.

Swapnil, who took a couple of important wickets after making a vital 12 off 6 on his RCB debut, said “Two days ago I got to know that I will play. So, I just wanted to go out and play. We won the game, that was most satisfactory, and I took two crucial wickets by god’s grace.

Patidar felt that the win had created a good environment, and Swapnil agreed. “Obviously, when you win a game, the tempo in the team changes. Everyone feels good. Last two games also, we actually missed by a small difference. So, yeah, everyone would be happy, obviously, but, yeah, still a long way to go. One game at a time,” Swapnil added.