The Royal Challengers Bangalore have been the team in form in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League and as they are approaching the business end of the tournament, they are focussing more on adaptation and finetuning their execution to rise the ladder upwards.
They face their next game against the Punjab Kings, who had handed them a defeat in the first round of clash between the sides, and RCB Coach Mike Hesson is banking on familiarity to deal with the challenges.
He said that the RCB players are aware of Punjab’s specific game plan and also pointed out that the pitches at Sharjah have been slower and lower and there will be no improvement and changes in that regard for the next game. He backed his players to be and ready for the challenge that will set up their entry into the next phase of the tournament.
“We know their players very well from a tactical point of view and how they look to attack certain types of bowlers, but it is all about executions and it is all about the fact that they are very good. There are some very good players there and they will try to counter-attack and we will try and find a way of dealing with it” Hesson said in RCB’s preview video.
“It’s probably equally as important that we adapt to playing at Sharjah. We know the surface and they are not going to get any quicker than they have been. We have got to make sure that we are prepared for that” said Hesson.
The RCB are sitting on 14 points from 11 games this season and a win over Punjab will confirm their place in the first four teams on the points table. A win for Punjab, on the other hand, will keep the Kings alive in the tournament and open up many fronts for the likes of the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Mumbai Indians, the Rajasthan Royals.