Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta has said that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have managed to start their IPL campaign on a positive note this year because of a sorted batting order among other reasons.
The cricketer-turned-commentator, who was speaking to Sports Today ahead of RCB’s Sunday’s clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), added that Virat Kohli’s team has also benefited from not playing in Bengaluru, their home ground where high-scoring matches make things difficult for them.
Notably, due to coronavirus pandemic IPL 2021 was decided to be played at only six venues. Neutral venues for all the teams were assigned for a fair competition.
Further, Dasgupta credited Glenn Maxwell also for RCB’s success in their first two games. He said that the hard-hitting Australian managed to find his IPL rhythm at the franchise, something he was struggling for in the last few seasons.
“The fact that they got their batting order sorted, they got somebody in the middle order. So now if you look at their batting order with Maxwell at 4 and ABD at 5, that certainly looks a lot stronger and Virat Kohli can open. Also the fact that Maxwell has finally find a kind of a groove which has been very, very difficult for him in the IPL in the past seasons. So, I think all that put together, the venue definitely because you know in Bangalore it can be a high scoring games and it can be difficult. Suddenly they have a different track to play on. Bowling was an issue last few seasons, this time bowling also looks a lot better than it was in last few years. So, I think they have got a better side,” Deep Dasgupta said,
Deep Dasgupta also talked about the importance of team bonding in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Calling it the biggest challenge of the tournament, he said, “In IPL the most important part is not how good individuals are but how good they gel. For that a lot of things have to be on the right place, the mindset, philosophy of the franchise, people playing in their right areas and positions. So there are a lot of things which make these people come together and gel and that is one of the biggest challenge of IPL as people come a week or 10 days before the tournament. So I think they have found the sweet spot and that is good.”
