Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 22 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower assured that his side isn’t “too concerned” about the shift of their upcoming fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad from their home den, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, to Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium on Friday.
A couple of days ago, the IPL confirmed that the SRH-RCB fixture was moved to Lucknow after the unfavourable weather conditions in Bengaluru were taken into account. With the home advantage gone in IPL’s group stage business end, Flower is “disappointed” about not facing SRH on their home turf. But he isn’t dwelling on their lack of training for the clash, which will play its part in determining where they finish in the top four after qualifying for the playoffs.
“We are obviously disappointed not to be playing tomorrow’s game in Bangalore, but we have had to roll with that as well. We trained in Bangalore yesterday lunchtime, then we flew here. We have another little training session tonight, and we will be ready to go tomorrow,” Flower said before the match.
“As you know, we struggled in our home conditions initially, and the pitch was a little different than we were used to. We took a little while to adjust our game plan according to the pitch, and we did adjust it and won a couple of important games at home. We have got a good record away. We have been able to flex for the away conditions really well, so I am backing our players to do that again tomorrow. So, we are okay playing here in Lucknow,” he added.
RCB haven’t played a single delivery since the tournament’s resumption, following a week’s suspension due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan. They were bound to mark the continuation of the tournament at home against the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders. However, rain pelted down heavily in Bengaluru, and the match had to be abandoned without a ball bowled.
The absence of game time and practice doesn’t “concern” Flower. He sees the break as a “healthy thing”, considering skipper Rajat Patidar got enough time to reclaim his fitness after sustaining a “heavy knock”. Phil Salt, who was “sick” for a while, got the opportunity to recharge his batteries at home and return with full “force”.
“We are not too concerned about that. I think the boys have worked really well over the entire season in the build-up to the first match of the season, and they have played some superb cricket throughout the season. Yes, a little break now, but for a couple of our players, that has actually been a healthy thing. Rajat Patidar, for one, has given his right hand a little bit of time to settle after getting quite a bad knock. So, he is fit to bat, which is great,” he said.
“Salt was sick for a while, so it has given him a little chance to get home. He has recharged his batteries, and he is back at full force. Of course, everyone in the competition and all our fans would have wanted the competition to play out as planned, but bigger things were at stake, and we have had to roll with that,” he added. (ANI)
