Ahead of the IPL 2020 auction, former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson took over as the Director of Cricket whereas, former Australian opener Simon Katich was roped in as the head coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). As of now, the franchise is preparing for the upcoming edition, Hesson and Katich have discussed on their team’s plan and strength.
In the IPL 2020 auction, the franchise bagged the service of one of the best white-ball player Aaron Finch. He is expected to join the squad in the UAE after finishing the bilateral series against England on September 16. Simon Katich has opened up on why they had bid for Aaron Finch.
The RCB head coach explained that the franchise was looking for a player who is top-notch in international cricket. Keeping this in mind, the franchise bought the Australian white-ball captain. Katich added that Finch’s leadership skill will be an asset for the team in the impending edition.
“We were looking for guys at the top of their game in international cricket. Finch was high on that list. As a player and captain, he has done well for Australia. He is a good player of spin and brings leadership in the group,” Simon Katich said during a video interaction.
Further, Mike Hesson talked about the team’s combination. RCB has always been in the dearth of death over bowlers which had costed them in past editions. However, Hesson is confident that this time they have got better players.
“We were very clear about our death bowling and wanted to make sure we got it covered. We went into the auction wanting to fix that,” said Hesson at the virtual media interaction,” Mike Hesson said.
RCB has a balanced unit: Mike Hesson
Counting the names of RCB bowlers, Mike Hesson said that RCB is now not only reliant for winning on his batting line up. He added that the Bangalore-based franchise is now a balanced unit.
“We have got Udana, Morris, Richardson, Steyn. Navdeep Saini has done the job nicely and our spinners too will play a big part. We got Chahal who is exceptional bowler and a nice mix of spinners (Shahbaz Nadeem, Pawan Negi, Moeen Ali). We think we are not so much reliant on our batting and have a balanced unit,” he said.
In the past three IPL editions, Virat Kohli-led RCB has ended at the bottom of the charts. They have three times entered the grand finale of the tournament but unfortunately, have failed to grab the hand on the coveted trophy. They last reached the final in IPL 2016 where they faced defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad.