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Tag: Royal Challengers Bangalore

  • Enjoy playing with Glenn Maxwell, we both want to have an impact: RCB batsman AB de Villiers

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman AB de Villiers has said that he enjoys playing with Glenn Maxwell as both of them are similar kind of players who always want to leave an impact in the game.

    Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers’ knocks of 78 and 76 were backed up a spirited bowling performance as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 38 runs on Sunday here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    “I have worked really hard in the last few months. I did not expect to be playing really good cricket at the moment but I am very happy, I always give my best shot when I play for RCB. It was a very hot day, we lost couple of wickets early but I am very happy that we came through. I laid out a good foundation and then their leg-spinner (Varun Chakravarthy) came on, I sensed he was bowling defensively and I realised that was my moment. When Russell came on, he was stuck with wide deliveries, I opened up and it put him under pressure,” AB de Villiers told Yuzvendra Chahal in a video posted on the official website of IPL.

    “When I came out to bat, I realised Maxwell was tired and he told me that he does not want to run much. To be honest, we enjoy playing together. We are similar players with a lot of energy and we love having an impact for the team. When I came out to bat, the thought was to get a base together and get a partnership going. I knew if we get a partnership, we will sense a weakness somewhere which we did,” he added.

    Andre Russell played a knock of 31 runs for KKR, but in the end, RCB managed to hold on to record their third victory in a row this season. This is the first time that RCB has managed to win their first three games in an IPL season.

    Earlier, RCB might have been 9/2 in the second over, but Maxwell and de Villiers’ knocks of 78 and 76 ensured that the side posts a total of 204/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

    Along with Maxwell and de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal and Kyle Jamieson also played knocks of 25 and 11 respectively. For KKR, Varun Chakravarthy returned with two wickets.

  • Glenn Maxwell at home with Royal Challengers Bangalore post encounter with Kolkata Knight Riders

    Express News Service
    CHENNAI: Even before the IPL auction in February, stars had aligned for Glenn Maxwell. That Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore – the eventual settlement for the all-rounder – would go big for him at the auction might have come as a surprise, but there was more to it.

    Despite Maxwell tallying only 169 and 108 runs in his last two IPL seasons in 2018 and 2020, the two franchises believed in a different set-up. Without the burden of being the face of their overseas recruit, the Australian, they believed, could thrive.

    Bangalore, especially, believed his close proximity to captain Virat Kohli and the feeling of making him wanted would do a world of good for a player, who had had mental health issues not so long ago.  

    From the moment, Bangalore bought him at the auction spending Rs 14.25 crore, they not only placed faith on him, but believed that in a team also having Kohli and AB de Villiers, there would be less pressure on Maxwell.

    To place that kind of faith on a player who hadn’t crossed fifty in his last two IPL editions was a big punt. But it was the sort of trust that make players like Maxwell feel at home. The arrival of Sanjay Bangar as batting consultant, under whom Maxwell tallied 552 runs, also shouldn’t be overlooked. Bangalore have done all that they can to make him feel valuable.

    “The most important thing is he looks happier. Generally as a sportsperson you would like to be in a good space where you are enjoying the time with your teammates, you feel confident about your own game. In order to feel confident, you need to prepare well and I think Maxi has prepared well. He also had a strong series against New Zealand before the IPL,” said De Villiers who scored 76 on Sunday.

    “Lot of things have added up. Think he always wanted to be at RCB and he had mentioned it a few times. All in all, he looks happy. The two of us have had nice chats about life in general, his Aussie team, his dreams moving forward and what he wants to achieve,” he said.

    “We have played at such a high level that we are not going tell each other what we have to do out there anymore. Here he feels Virat, myself, the support staff and teammates back him. We know he has got extra-ordinary talent and to blossom, somoene must be in a happy space that he is in now,” he added.

    Maxwell knows his isn’t the first overseas name on the team list at RCB, something he hasn’t been accustomed to. Perhaps it was a load too much to take for Maxwell, whose game is either blow hot or cold.

    On Sunday when he walked into the middle in the third over against Kolkata Knight Riders, Bangalore were in a spot of bother thanks to Varun Chakravarthy’s twin strikes in his first over on a Chepauk pitch were the ball came on to the bat nicely for a change.

    RCB’s decision to hold back De Villiers meant, instead of carrying on with Varun, Kolkata held him back. It allowed Maxwell to not only to find his groove, but wrestle the momentum back from Kolkata. By the time Varun came back in the eighth over, Maxwell, well and truly in, hit him for a six and a four.

    Kolkata didn’t come prepared for Maxwell. They would have done their homework for Kohli, De Villiers, but not Maxwell However, it lasted 49 deliveries, by which time the Australian had 78 to his name, his second-successive fifty in this edition. “In the past, we didn’t have to bother much about the planning as he hadn’t been in top form,” KKR coach Brendon McCullum admitted.

    “But it appears he has come with a refreshed attitude and wants to hit the ball far from ball one. He has taken the game on and we have seen him be successful at the Big Bash and for Australia with same kind of attitude. He is confident at the moment, he clearly took the game away from us at a crunch time when we were on top,” he said.

  • AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell power RCB to 204/4 against KKR

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: AB de Villiers’ master class and Glenn Maxwell’s counter-attacking half-century propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to an imposing 204 for four against Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL match, here on Sunday.

    RCB scored 56 runs in the last three overs, including 21 in the final six deliveries, to set KKR a stiff target after electing to bat.

    De Villiers blazed away to 76 off 34 balls with the help of nine fours and three sixes, while Maxwell made 78 off 49.

    The Australian too hit nine boundaries and three sixes.

    The Knight Riders were off to a brilliant start with leg-break bowler Varun Chakravarthy leaving RCB in early trouble at 9/2 with the big wickets of skipper Virat Kohli (5) and Rajat Patidar (1) in the second over.

    Opening the bowling for KKR, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh bowled a tight line and length to stifle the RCB batsmen in his first two overs.

    After Chakravarthy lured Kohli to go over cover with a tossed-up delivery that drifted away from the right-hander, Rahul Tripathi pulled off a sensational catch running back from extra-cover.

    The top batsman was nowhere close to the ball.

    Chakravarthy then went through the defence of Patidar with one that darted back on landing.

    Mixing aggression with caution, Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal (25) revived the RCB innings after the early blows at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    While the young Indian seemed content playing the second fiddle, the swashbuckling Australian counter-attacked in fine fashion and played the big shots with consummate ease.

    The in-form Maxwell upped the ante when he cleared his front leg to plonk Shakib Al Hasan over long-on for his first maximum in the sixth over.

    The one bowled by Shakib turned out to be a productive over for RCB as they got 17 runs off it.

    After reaching 45 for two at the end of the six powerplay overs, Maxwell shifted gears and raced to his half-century in just 28 balls.

    Even Chakravarthy, who was on fire some time ago, was not spared by Maxwell as he smashed him for a six and four off successive balls.

    Prasidh Krishna ended the third-wicket partnership of 86 runs by sending back Padikkal, which signalled the arrival of De Villiers in the middle.

    Joining forces, the dazzling duo of Maxwell and De Villiers did not allow the KKR bowlers to settle into any sort of rhythm until premier pacer Pat Cummins ended their 53-run association.

    After that, the show belonged to De Villiers as he toyed with KKR bowlers.

  • Royal Challengers Bangalore win toss, opt to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday won the toss and opted to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    At the time of the toss, RCB skipper Kohli said: “We will bat first, the pitch will become slower and slower as the game goes on, but this surface looks better, want to put up a decent total player. We are playing three overseas players – Dan Christian misses out, Rajat Patidar is in. We just want to do a professional job, do the process right, take one game at a time and enjoy -keep calm under pressure.”

    RCB made one change to their lineup as the side brought in Rajat Patidar in place of Daniel Christian. On the other hand, KKR did not make any change to their playing XI from the last game.

    RCB has won both its opening two games this season while KKR has managed to win one game and lose another.

    KKR Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

    RCB Playing XI: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), Shahbaz Ahmed, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

  • Rajat Patidar is a very promising talent: RCB batsman AB de Villiers

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) star batsman AB de Villiers said that Rajat Patidar is a promising talent and natural striker of the ball.

    De Villiers is excited to see Patidar, who made his IPL debut in the season opener against Mumbai Indians, in the ongoing season. The right-handed batsman scored just eight runs and failed to find an opportunity in the playing XI against SunRisers Hyderabad. RCB has won both the games in the season so far.

    “Rajat made his debut other night. I have not seen him playing big innings in the game yet. I watched him in the nets yesterday. Very promising talent, I think he looks calm at the wicket and is a very natural ball striker. It’s gonna be exciting to watch him come through this season. If I have any influence whatsoever it would be great. I think he is gonna have good IPL. I’m excited to see what’s to come,” the wicketkeeper-batsman said in a video posted on RCB’s official Twitter handle.

    When asked how tough his job to keep wickets is, the former Proteas skipper said, “It is tough to start, it is one of the hardest things is the wicket-keeping and preparing for the games. 120 balls in and out, it is intense but it is not the one that kills you it’s the build. Trying to take a lot of balls and trying to imitate what I’m going to do in the game at the training session.

    “And then I’m a character who really enjoys to push myself. I really enjoy to knuckle down and take as many balls as I can. Do the drills, do the hard yards and then things are much easier in the game time than the other way around rather,” he added.

    De Villiers further said it is special to have his family with him for the IPL.

    “It is obviously the first time all five of us are here. It is not something that comes easy, it is not easy to have five people in one room. It’s chaos but it brings a different touch to the IPL for me. It definitely makes it special when I looked up the other night seeing the kids in the stands. Incredibly special,” he concluded.

    RCB will next play against Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.

  • Consistently succeeding helps build winning culture, feels RCB batsman AB de Villiers

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman AB de Villiers has said consistency and sustainability of the batting unit is the key if the side wants to develop the winning culture. The Virat Kohli-led side won both the games of the season so far. First with the bat against Mumbai Indians and the second one while defending 150 runs against SunRisers Hyderabad.

    “I think we have started something where we as a batting unit sort of felt something special and now the consistency and sustainability of that is important. If we do it two or three times we will start believing that. We almost can’t fail that’s the kind of position you want to be as a batting unit and as a team.

    “You want to get into the winning culture where you feel like what if I don’t do it he is going to do it. If he doesn’t do it then I’m doing it. You get this beautiful flow going in the team. We are few games away from that hopefully, we will keep going with the momentum,” de Villiers said in a video posted by RCB on their official Twitter handle.

    When asked if having experienced players in the squad helps the youngsters, the former Proteas skipper replied: “It helps everyone to know that there is a couple of experienced heads around. That’s always a nice feeling. Guys whether they are in good form or bad form they find a way to cross the line more often than not. Down the order as well a couple of guys who need some big balls even Harshal finished the game the other night.”

    During England’s tour of India, Kohli reached out to de Villiers, who revealed the conversation between them. “I don’t want to say. It’s embarrassing. I think I mentioned four points. We spoke about a couple of things away from the game and then also a couple of technical things but it was very basic.

    “I have been wanting to tell him for quite a while, I was watching him for a few months looking like he was quite intense — at the crease, with his whole game. So, I really wasn’t surprised when I saw the message and I knew immediately that all he needs to hear is the basic stuff,” he added.

    De Villiers went to take his phone out of pocket to read the text he sent to Kohli. “Four points — see the ball, still head, allow the ball to come into your space, body language, and attitude. And then we sort of elaborated around those four points,” De Villiers added.

  • Virat Kohli reprimanded for showing frustration after dismissal

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has been reprimanded for breaching the IPL’s Code of Conduct after he was seen kicking a chair in frustration following his dismissal in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad here.

    Kohli was not at his fluent best in the game on Wednesday and ended up with 33 off 29 balls.

    His team won the game by six runs.

    “Kohli admitted to the Level 1 offence 2.2 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding,” said the IPL in a statement.

    Vengalil Narayan Kutty was the match referee in the game while Nitin Menon and Ulhas Gandhe were the on-field umpires.

    Kohli had top edged a short ball off Jason Holder to be caught in the deep by Vijay Shankar.

    Following his dismissal, TV replays picked up footage of Kohli kicking a chair in the dugout in frustration.

  • Sahabaz, Maxwell lead Royal Challengers Bangalore to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 runs

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed (3/7) dished out a match-winning performance after Glenn Maxwell’s half-century to help Royal Challengers Bangalore notch up a six-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.

    Put in to bat, RCB managed 149 for eight on the back of Maxwell’s 41-ball 59 before Shahbaz changed the complexion of the match by dismissing Manish Pandey (38), Jonny Bairstow (12) and Abdul Samad (0) in one over, as SRH ended at 143 for nine in the stipulated 20 overs.

    The victory propelled RCB to the top of the table.

    Chasing a modest total, SRH lost opener Wriddhiman Saha (1) cheaply in the beginning of the third over.

    However, skipper David Warner (54) and Pandey looked to make short work of the chase, galloping towards the target with the Sunrisers needing 73 off the last 10 overs.

    The duo looked in ominous touch, smashing boundaries every over to keep the score board ticking until the 14the over when the Australian, who hit seven fours and a six, was dismissed off a Kyle Jamieson off-cutter.

    RCB gained confidence after Warner’s dismissal, their bowlers limiting the boundaries.

    With the pressure mounting, Bairstow, Pandey and Samad tried to target Shahbaz but mistimed their shots to return to the pavilion in the 17th over.

    Vijay Shankar (3) and Jason Holder (4) too struggled.

    Rashid Khan injected some hope in the SRH camp smashing 18 off nine balls before he was run out.

    Earlier, SRH bowlers, led by West Indian all-rounder Jason Holder (3/30) and star spinner Rashid Khan (2/18), put up superlative show and picked up wickets at regular intervals.

    For RCB, Maxwell was the top scorer, hitting five fours and three maximums with skipper Virat Kohli (33) Shahbaz Ahmed (14) and Kyle Jamieson (12) providing valuable contributions.

    Put in to bat, RCB were off to a decent start with Kohli and opener Devdutt Padikkal (11) hitting a few boundaries.

    However, Sunrisers didn’t have to wait long for their first breakthrough as a back of the length delivery in the third over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/30) spelled the end of Padikkal, who had returned after recovering from COVID-19.

    Shahbaz was the next to depart after playing a quick cameo, leaving RCB at 47 for two.

    At the halfway mark, Maxwell raised the tempo as the big-hitting Australian smashed Shahbaz Nadeem (1/36) for two sixes and a four in the first three balls of the 11th over, with Kohli joining the party with a boundary.

    The two stitched a 44-run partnership before Jason Holder got rid of the RCB skipper as wickets continued to fall at regular intervals.

    With AB de Villiers (1) in the middle, SRH captain David Warner introduced spin once again, bringing on versatile leg-spinner Rashid, and the move immediately paid dividends.

    The dangerous South African slapped the ball straight to Warner at covers with the slow nature of the Chepauk track coming to the fore once again.

    The Afghan spinner struck once again, getting rid of Washinton Sundar (8).

    With Dan Christian also gone, Maxwell smashed three fours and a maximum in the last three overs.

    Former champions SRH lost their opening match to Kolkata Knight Riders while RCB beat Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener.

  • SunRisers Hyderabad win toss, opt to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore

    By IANS
    CHENNAI: SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) won the toss and opted to bowl in their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.

    Devdutt Padikkal is back for RCB after recovering from Covid-19 and replaced Rajat Patidar while for SRH, Jason Holder and Shahbaz Nadeem replaced Mohammed Nabi and Sandeep Sharma.

    Playing XIs

    SunRisers Hyderabad: Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), David Warner (captain), Manish Pandey, Jonny Bairstow, Vijay Shankar, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Shahbaz Nadeem.

    Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

  • Virat Kohli floated idea of me joining Royal Challengers Bangalore during Australia tour: Glenn Maxwell

    Glenn Maxwell was the focus of a bidding war between RCB and CSK which led to him eventually being sold for a whopping Rs 14.25 crore.