Mike Hesson, the Director of Cricket of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), believes that spinners will have a big role in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and scores between 150-160 can be match-winning totals. IPL 2020 will be played from September 19 to November 10 in the UAE across three venues — Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.
The pitches on all three grounds in UAE (Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Cricket Stadium) are known for their sluggish nature and spinners have had the edge over fast bowlers here. Just like India, the conditions in UAE are hot, which will likely damage the surface as the tournament progresses benefitting spinners who might get lethal on such tracks.
RCB On Board In Flight To UAE Photo Credit: Twitter.
Mike Hesson: Role Of Spinners Will Be Huge In UAE Conditions
Amit Mishra leads among maximum wicket-takers by a spinner in overall IPL with 157 wickets from 147 matches and is 2nd on the list after Lasith Malinga(170).
“On certain grounds, the role of spinners will be really big. In a place like Abu Dhabi, spinners have traditionally played a big role there, it is a bigger ground and spinners come into the equation. But it probably doesn’t spin as much as it does in Dubai and Sharjah,” Hesson said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.
Amit Mishra. Photo Credit: BCCI/IPL.
“We have loads and loads of information on every wicket, but we need to have the ability to adjust to the conditions on the given day. Spin will obviously play a part. Over here in the UAE, 150-160 can be a good score,” he added.
Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla are placed on 3rd and 4th with 150 wickets each. Sunil Narine who is the leading wicket-taker for KKR is 8th with 122 wickets while Ravindra Jadeja is 10th with 108 wickets.
Mike Hesson: Team RCB Discussed Past Performances
Mike Hesson also said that the team discussed the past performances of the side and they tried to address the major gaps in the lineup which have been fulfilled by buying experienced cricketers in the auctions.
RCB will be lead by Virat Kohli while Aaron Finch and AB De Villiers will support him in batting while the all-rounders are Moeen Ali and Chris Morris. The pace attack will be spearheaded by Dale Steyn and will include Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, and Mohammad Siraj while they have a strong spin attack consisting of Yuzvendra Chahal, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, and Adam Zampa.
“We have spent a lot of time in reviewing the past seasons, before the auction we addressed the gaps we had in our lineup, we tried to address them with the new signings. I think there is a lot of talk about finishing the innings with the ball in hand, we have got some experienced players who can do the role now,” Mike Hesson said.
Mike Hesson Photo Credit: Reuters
“We also feel that we can improve the players we had earlier. We also need to maximize the playing group, for us to perform as a team, we have to rely on the squad and the players who have not done a massive job for us in the past,” Mike Hesson added.
RCB is yet to win the IPL title even once. The franchise had managed to reach the finals of 2009, 2011, and 2016 edition, but ended up on the losing side in the summit clash. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will be locking horns in the opening match of the IPL 2020 on September 19 in Abu Dhabi. RCB will take on SunRisers Hyderabad in their opening match of the tournament on September 21.
