00:00Firstly, it's brilliant to be back here at Bangalore. It feels a little bit weird having
00:04played two games and having not played a game here yet. So, really excited to be here. I
00:09think it will be great to get in front of our fans. So, one part of the home advantage
00:13will be the atmosphere that they create, which I'm sure will be intimidating for the opposition
00:17or it can be, particularly when it's a bit noisy. In terms of the actual playing conditions,
00:21I think everybody knows what to expect from a surface here in Bangalore. It's a good wicket.
00:27We know it's pretty short boundaries. We know the ball carries and flies, so they're
00:30typically high-scoring games. I'd probably answer that question by taking you back to
00:35our auction. We've recruited a team that we think is pretty powerful as a batting line-up.
00:39So, we hope we can exploit those batting conditions. We think we've got a bowling attack that's
00:43particularly skilful and that can deal with the challenge of bowling here, attacking here
00:48but also defending here. So, that's been our focus from the moment we started trying to
00:52assemble our squad. And the way we played in the first two games, we're building good
00:57confidence in those two areas with our powerful batting and skilful bowling.
01:01Former RCB player, EB de Villiers, has called out the scheduling of RCB matches. You had
01:09remarked that the first two away games and then a home game and then you go away again
01:13to Mumbai. So, is that something that you have given a thought about, not having enough
01:18home games at the start of the season? And have you ever thought about how away matches
01:22are also been an advantage because he has also remarked that away matches being something
01:27that could gel the team together. Have you seen that within the players so far?
01:33Not specifically. I think you just deal with the schedule that you get given. We definitely
01:38tried to focus in those first couple of games at making a statement start because going
01:42to two big teams with good and proud home records is a good challenge. So, we use that
01:48as something to motivate the group. Similarly, we want to come back here and motivate the
01:53group to put on a show in front of their own fans. So, you just deal with what's in front
01:57of you. So, I don't think that's a big issue. I think a bigger challenge for us scheduling-wise
02:01is probably the amount of travel that we've got. So, we've actually got quite a laid-back
02:07and quiet start and quite a nice relaxed end but the middle is very congested. I think
02:14from after this game onwards we play something like seven games in 22 days with seven travel
02:18days. That's a very hectic schedule. So, I'm more interested in how we keep the boys fresh
02:24through that period and keep playing the way we want to play.
02:27I know it's early days yet but what have you made of Patidar as a captain, as a leader,
02:33the fact that he's also led with the bat. How impressed are you with how he's gone so far?
02:39What have you guys made of it? I think it's been pretty good. The main thing you want
02:45to see from any leader or captain is typically that they continue to let their personality
02:51come across and I think he's done that really well. We don't want him to become a captain
02:55and be anybody else. We want him to be himself. So, very calm inwardly and outwardly. He rarely,
03:03if ever, takes a backward step and we've seen that with his batting, particularly the other
03:06day at CSK. Every time we lost wickets he continued to throw punches which was really
03:11good. He seems to have coped with all the other stuff that comes with captaincy really
03:15well as well because it's a busy time. At the minute I think he's been excellent. He's
03:19been everything I hoped and expected him to be. We know it's early days. There's a lot
03:23of cricket left to be played and when we get through the busy part of the schedule and
03:27the fixtures come thick and fast and no doubt we'll have some challenges at some point in
03:31the season. That'll be a time where we've really got to be there to support him. But
03:34at the minute he's been very impressive.
03:35Just a couple of matches, but what's the value that Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood
03:43brings to the table as the new world bowlers for you?
03:46Two bowlers with extreme class as we know. International pedigree. They know their strengths
03:54really well. The opposition will know their strengths too, so they're not easy bowlers
03:59to play against. It's also worth mentioning Yash Dayal. I think as a three-man pace bowling
04:04unit those three have got a high degree of variety, very good skill. We think they'll
04:09be well suited to bowling somewhere difficult and challenging like here. So at the minute
04:13we're very happy with how those guys have gone. But we've also got other guys in the
04:16wings knocking on the door. I think Rasik's a very skilful bowler, again particularly
04:21in these sorts of conditions. We've got point of difference with Nuan and people like that,
04:25so we're really happy with our bowling unit.
04:29Two matches, you said your confidence is very high and the boys are fresh. With so many
04:33matches do you think you'll maintain the consistency or the law of averages will catch up to you?
04:40How are you defining the law of averages?
04:45We just take one game at a time. It's a bit of a cliche and you hear a lot of coaches
04:55say that, but we just take one game at a time. At the minute all our focus is on GT tomorrow
05:00night and we've also really had a focus on playing to our potential. We feel like we've
05:08assembled a good squad. That's a good first step. We feel like we've got clarity on our
05:11strongest team. If we play to potential the results take care of themselves and you've
05:15just got to repeat that for 14 group games and then hopefully for some knockout games.
05:19We don't really look beyond that.
05:23Your thoughts about impact player rule?
05:32I think it brings an added excitement clearly for the audience. I think it also makes sure
05:41that games stay live for longer, which I think is useful. I think that also is relevant here
05:48where I think games stay live for longer because you can chase quite a lot at the end. In many
05:52ways I think it makes for exciting cricket. If you were someone who was particularly bothered
05:59about Indian cricket's future you might ask a few questions around what it's done to the
06:03all-rounder, but me in this position right now that isn't a major concern for me. It's
06:08a case of us trying to make sure that we use it to our advantage. As you've probably seen
06:12in the two games we've had so far we've had a pretty simple approach to it. We haven't
06:16been too creative with it at this stage. We've been pretty simple with it. It gives us a
06:21chance to get the right bowlers on the field and to bat with the right level of depth.
06:29There were a couple of rules before this season about the saliva ban being lifted and then
06:34the change of ball which was allowed. Have you spoken to the bowlers so far? Do they
06:39think that's making a difference, that's kind of helping them a little bit compared to previous
06:43seasons?
06:45Firstly, we were in favour of the decision to permit another new ball in the back end
06:53of the second innings if dew was playing a factor. I was at the captain's meeting with
06:58Raja and that was discussed at length and we debated a number of things, but I think
07:02in principle trying to negate the impact of the toss when basically chasing just makes
07:10the game an obvious conclusion I think is a really good thing. So it just balances that
07:14out a little bit, so the bowlers are pretty happy with that. It seems to have not been
07:17that much dew across the competition anyway at this stage, so we don't know how useful
07:21that will end up being. I think that might play out as we get through the coming weeks
07:24and months, but at the minute it hasn't played out too much, but I think it's a good addition.
07:29The saliva one I haven't really thought that much about. If I think of it from a hygiene
07:32perspective I do also think it's pretty disgusting that we're all licking cricket balls, but
07:36I can understand why bowlers like that. I always say that in this country I don't view
07:42the saliva ban as that big an issue because you do enough sweating. If you're playing
07:46cricket in England you could do with a little bit of saliva because you don't do too much
07:49sweating with the temperature there, so I'm not sure it has that much relevance here in
07:52India, but it certainly would do in England.
07:57Injuries and workload are a major point of concern when it comes to Hazlewood and Bovenejo,
08:07so going ahead have you planned anything according to that as you said that the middle phase
08:11is quite hectic when it comes to travelling and seven matches, so will we see some workload
08:16management between the two?
08:18Well look, it isn't a major cause for concern, you stated it was, it's not a major cause
08:23of concern right now because they're both fit. Obviously Boovey had a slightly slower
08:28start and lead in just because he had a very minor niggle and we didn't want to put him
08:31at risk. He probably could have played that first game if we really wanted him to, but
08:34we didn't want to put him at risk. Josh came off the back of an injury with Cricket Australia
08:39but they managed that pretty conservatively and then handed him over to us and we finished
08:43that rehab here, so they're both in a good place now. A bit like my answer to the gentleman
08:48here that we're not thinking too far ahead. It's likely we're going to have to think about
08:52things to keep players fresh through the middle, I think that's obvious, but right now every
08:57game is important, so we're not thinking too far ahead. We'll take it on a day by day and
09:01week by week basis. Our medical team are doing a brilliant job and they've got a good track
09:06record over the last few years. If you look at us relative to probably other teams we've
09:09not had too many soft tissue injuries, so just keep focusing every day at a time, every
09:13game at a time, try and keep them on the park because we know how good they are. If they
09:17end up needing a bit of a rest we're pretty relaxed about that too because we've got a
09:20really good squad.
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