Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) head coach Sanjay Bangar admitted that the young batters in their side have not capitalised on the opportunities provided to them in this edition of the Indian Premier League. He also shed light on their finisher Dinesh Karthik’s fitness following his side’s sixth loss in the league stage.
The Indian finisher played a vital cameo at the end of the innings to score 30 runs off 18 deliveries, which helped RCB post a total of 199-6 in the first innings against Mumbai Indians. The 37-year-old did not take the field in the 2nd innings as Anuj Rawat kept the wickets for his team.
Speaking to the media after their six-wicket loss against the Rohit Sharma-led side, Sanjay Bangar revealed that Dinesh Karthik felt some discomfort during batting and said that he vomited after his knock against the five-time champions and said that he would be fine for the next game against Rajasthan Royals. He hailed him as an important player for the team in the middle order.
“During the innings, Dinesh Karthik started feeling unwell, he was a bit dehydrated and on his way back he also vomited. There is enough gap for us, maybe three-four days, so with medicine, I think he should be fine. He is an important member of us and he has a big role to play,” Sanjay Bangar said.
The former Indian batting coach accepted that their young batters have failed to put their hand in important situations as Anuj Rawat, Shabaz Ahmed, and Suyash Prabhudessai could not perform for their side in the opportunities given to them.
“Our young Indian batters are not progressing at a very good rate. Lomror has been someone who has taken his chances well. But somebody like Anuj Rawat or Shahbaz Ahmed, whenever they have got those opportunities, unfortunately, they have not been able to capitalize on it”.
RCB’s batting predominantly depends on their top three batters Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell to perform as their middle-order batter struggled to score in the end overs finishing the game for their side.
We Did Not Compete, I Mean Winning And Losing Is Part Of The Game – Sanjay Bangar
Sanjay Bangar admitted that his side did not compete well enough against the five-time champions and said that he would have accepted the defeat if the match has gone down the wire, and reckoned that his side was never in the game, as the Mumbai Indians batters were all over their bowlers in the chase.
“We did not compete, I mean winning and losing is part of the game, but had the game gone down the wire till the 20th over it would have been acceptable,” Sanjay Bangar added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore is now in a must-win situation going into the tournament as they will have to win three games in a row to give them the best chance to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2023. Faf du Plessis-led side will take on Rajasthan Royals in the next game on May 14 in Sawai Mansingh Stadium.