Mumbai: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) director of cricket operations Mike Hesson conceded on Sunday that the 68-run thrashing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad the last time they played this season will be at the “back of your mind” when the two sides clash for the second time in IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium later on Sunday.
With both teams fighting for a spot in the top-four and the league phase moving towards its climax, captain Faf du Plessis indicated it was futlie looking at the past, adding his focus was on the next game.
“I think sometimes it’s always on the back of your mind. We put that game to bed pretty early; we were outplayed. The pitch was completely different and offered just a little bit. They (SRH) bowled very well, and every time we played and missed, we nicked it. Players are humans, so they believe in these things, but I think also, it’s a different day, it’s a different pitch, it’s a day game. It’s obviously progressed further in the tournament. There’s different pressures at this time, different guys are in form. It’s not necessarily a flow on, but it’s not something you forget in a hurry,” said Hesson.
RCB skipper Fad du Plessis said that he was quite clear in his mind as to what needed to be done going forward.
“Very simple for me. It’s very clear that you have to approach each game what’s in front of you. You can’t look at the table, and net run rate (NRR) and it’s really just focusing on ‘Today we’ve got practice’, there’s a few things we want to work on; it’s warm once again, it’s gonna be hot, it’s a day game, so how do we conserve our energy? Everything’s just day by day. And then when you get an opportunity in a match where you can look at run rate, then and only then do you start talking about net run rate,” said the skipper.
