"Certainly we've to look after AB" - Mike Hesson on playing a specialised wicket-keeper
Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Mike Hesson has revealed the reason behind playing a specialised wicket-keeper against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
KS Bharat was handed the wicket-keeper role with AB de Villiers solely playing as a batter. Hesson stated they need to take care of the former Proteas captain, who is playing his first competitive match in almost four months.
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Addressing a virtual press conference, Mike Hesson said:
"Well I think you saw AB de Villiers didn't have the gloves. Certainly we've to look after AB. He is a very important player for us and not one we can risk at the moment behind the stumps.
"It was unfortunate for Rajat (Patidar) but we obviously needed a keeper who can bat at No.3 and to be fair KS Bharat has been outstanding in the whole camp. Certainly deserved his inclusion. The reason is obviously with AB not keeping, we needed to make a change at the top," he added.
However, KS Bharat failed to make an impression and looked completely out of sorts. He managed to score only 16 runs during his 19-ball stay before holing out to Shubman Gill.
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"We were not able to combat it" - Mike Hesson lauds Varun Chakravarthy
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The spin wizard Varun Chakravarthy posed all sorts of trouble for the RCB batters. He bowled 15 dot balls in his four overs and returned with figures of 3/13, including the big wicket of Glenn Maxwell.
Praising Chakravarthy, Mike Hesson stated that the lack of partnership from the RCB batters helped the spinner attack the new batsman. The former Kiwi head coach said:
"Well, it is very tough to start against Chakravarthy. The fact that we kept losing wickets regularly gave him the chance to attack the new batsman. It was no surprise to us in terms of what we were going to face with [Sunil] Narine and [Varun] Chakravarthy.
"They both bowled incredibly well, got a hold in the surface and often bowled to new batters. I think Varun Chakravarthy bowled extremely well and we were not just able to combat it," Mike Hesson added.
Banking on Varun Chakrvarthy and Andre Russell's incredible show with the ball, KKR bowled out RCB for 92 runs before chasing it down in just 10 overs.