Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium: After the bottom-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ended their six-match losing streak by beating the in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Faf du Plessis expresses a “massive relief”, saying the win affects the team’s confidence so he will now “sleep a little bit easier”.
RCB secured their second victory in IPL 2024 with a 35-run win against SRH at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Their previous win took place precisely a month earlier against Punjab Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where they successfully chased down 177 runs.
On Thursday, RCB showcased a dominating performance backed by an incisive team effort by the bowlers to defend 206 against a dangerous SRH batting side.
“I think the last two games we have certainly shown great signs of a fight. The SRH game was 270 (287) plus and we got close to 260 (262), great fight and the KKR game as well, one run, almost a record-chasing score. We have been close for a while but you need to win matches to get the confidence back in the group. It’s a massive relief for all of us.
“No matter who you are, when you are not winning it affects you mentally, it affects your confidence so I will sleep a little bit easier tonight,” Du Plessis said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“You can’t speak confidence into the group, you can’t fake confidence into the group. The only thing that gives confidence is performances. First half of the tournament we certainly felt like we weren’t near our full potential. And when you’re playing at 50% or 60%, obviously, you try 100%, … The competition is so strong, the teams are so strong that you’ll get hurt,” he said.
The South African veteran also emphasised batting cohesively as a unit rather than relying solely on individual performances, noting that in the first half of the tournament, only Virat Kohli was contributing with the bat.
“The last week and a half we have been working hard to make sure we get better at our own game. You can see the last game; there is some confidence in our batting. We have got more guys scoring runs now. For the first half of the tournament only it was only Virat [Kohli] contributing. Rajat playing two really good innings back-to-back, Greeny [Cameron Green] getting runs, it’s massive for him just to get that load off his shoulders.
“It’s important as a batting line-up to contribute together because we have seen the scores are so big, it’s never going to be just one guy scoring the runs.” said the RCB skipper.
Du Plessis further said it had been frustrating to bowl at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru because of the shorter boundaries. But praised the larger dimensions and conditions at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium for his spinners.
“Obviously we know that the Chinnaswamy, that’s been a real frustration for us. It’s a difficult ground to bowl at, to be honest. It’s not the easiest ground. Spinners feel like it’s a challenge. We are trying to find a recipe where we feel like we can bowl at that ground.
“But it’s been tough for the guys to find a formula that works. When you get grounds like this which is little bit bigger and there is a little bit purchase in the wicket… Karn (Sharma) was amazing. A legspinner, I feel even more so now in T20, you have to have a legspinner in your team,” Du Plessis concluded.
