RCB director of cricket Mo Bobat commented on the tribute planned by the fans for Virat Kohli after the star batter announced his retirement from Test cricket. The RCB fans are planning to wear white jerseys during the clash against KKR on May 17.
00:00More the disruption, for whatever reason, came at a time where I see we were having that momentum.
00:06As you regroup now, how are you approaching the last three games?
00:09Is it like a new half or are you looking at what have you done to pick up from there?
00:13And secondly, the status on Rajat and Josh Hazelwood, please.
00:18Yeah, well, look, it was an unusual few days, I'm sure, for everybody.
00:21First and foremost, it's good that the conflict has come to an end.
00:25It certainly felt like a disruption for me personally.
00:28Lots to sort out and it was a busy few days.
00:30For many of our lads, actually, it was a well-earned rest.
00:33So quite a few of them enjoyed getting home, seeing family, even if it's just for a couple of days and then coming back again.
00:38And actually, we were saying even yesterday, the boys came in with a lot of energy for their practice.
00:41So as far as the group is concerned, they're looking at a really, really good place.
00:45So, you know, pretty pleased about that.
00:47In terms of some of those updates, I think you mentioned Rajat and Josh.
00:51Yeah, Rajat's going well.
00:52As you all know, he had an injury to his hand.
00:55He's been building up ever so slowly.
00:57For him personally, probably the disruption gave him a few more days just to get through some of that early healing and for the swelling to go down and for him to get used to picking up a bat again.
01:07He's practiced the last few days and he's going well.
01:08With Josh, as you'll probably be aware, he's our only player not here at the minute.
01:14He's recovering from his shoulder niggle that he had.
01:17He's doing that with Cricket Australia.
01:19Obviously, our medical team and their medical team have been liaising on what that detail looks like.
01:23And he's just taking that day by day and he's trying to improve his shoulder.
01:26Like, in the last few days, there have been a lot of chatter about which international player is going to be available for which game, for how many games.
01:42So, how much of that is a factor for you in preparing for this match and also the matches ahead?
01:47Yeah, so I'm sure all teams experience the same thing, that once your players have gone home and once the dates have been extended, that creates a bit of uncertainty.
01:55You know, we spoke quite a lot with our overseas guys even before they went.
02:00And, you know, most of them were pretty adamant that they were keen to come back and finish the job off.
02:04We've had a good season so far.
02:06They want to come back and do that.
02:07The extending of the season presented some challenges.
02:10So, I had to have a few conversations with some of the national team governing bodies.
02:14Obviously, we'll lose Jacob Bethel after a couple of games and we'll lose Lungi and Gidi after a couple of games.
02:19So, there's an obvious impact there.
02:21In time, we'll give a little bit of thought to those replacements and we'll try and look at who might be able to come in.
02:25to shore up those positions.
02:27But, yeah, other than those couple of guys, nothing else was disrupted too much.
02:32With Padikal ruled out, is that a concern considering you might not have a left-hander in the top order
02:38if with Phil Salt, you know, going well in the last couple of days, if he comes back and takes up where Jacob Bethel played?
02:45So, is that something that sort of worries you considering so much of the game goes with match-ups?
02:50Yeah, my own personal philosophy is I don't worry that much about right and left-hand combinations.
02:55I know different teams view that differently.
02:58I actually think that since we've had the impact player rule and every team has six or seven bowlers,
03:02it almost doesn't matter if you've got right and left-hand.
03:04They just change the bowling combination.
03:05So, I think in an 11 versus 11 lineup, sometimes having that left-hander in your batting order
03:12can mean that you can put one of their bowlers under pressure.
03:15I see that less as a thing now.
03:16We've seen so many times during this competition that a certain bowler type hasn't bowled their overs
03:21because there was a left-hander at the crease and they just get through fine.
03:24So, look, I don't focus on that too much.
03:26We're quite clear on our pattern of play and the things that we want to focus on.
03:29So, it's obviously advantageous to have some left-handers if you've got a short boundary one side
03:33or something like that, but it's not a huge area of concern for me.
03:37Hi.
03:38Obviously, Kohli has announced his test retirement since coming back into the team.
03:43What has been the mood like in the team?
03:45How the players have reacted to it and any conversations you have had with him?
03:50Yeah, well, the first thing to say is Virat's just business as usual, as he always is.
03:55He doesn't really, like, there's enough of the public and the nation's attention on him.
03:58He doesn't want any more of that.
03:59He just wants to get on with his business.
04:01He's hugely ambitious about what we can achieve this year with RCB, and that's his focus.
04:06I would like to say, though, that he should be incredibly proud of what he's done as a test player for India.
04:12RCB as a franchise, we are all incredibly proud of what every one of our players does in an India shirt,
04:17but in particular him.
04:18You know, to play 120-plus test matches and to score nearly 10,000 runs is, you know, no mean feat.
04:24Also, as a captain, his record, you know, 60% win percentage or something like that as captain.
04:31Again, no mean feat.
04:33I can also talk from my previous role as an Englishman working in the English system.
04:38You know, he was someone you never wanted to play against.
04:40He was always the batter you wanted to get out.
04:42You knew that if he was either in the pavilion to come or at the crease that you were in trouble.
04:45And, you know, some of my most fondest memories watching test cricket involve him.
04:50You know, I'll never forget the 2018 India Series in England, the test at Edgbaston,
04:56watching Jimmy Anderson and him do battle like two gladiators.
05:01I think Jimmy must have bowled nine overs on the trot at him.
05:03And it was the two players, two of the best players in the world doing their thing.
05:07So that's what he's about.
05:09He's about those special moments, those inspiring moments, and he did that as captain, as a player.
05:14We're all really proud of him.
05:15I'm sure the fans will show him lots of love this week when they see him again.
05:18But just to go back to where I started, he's business as usual.
05:21We all are.
05:21He's spoken to a few of us about things in the last few weeks.
05:24But, yeah, you know what he's like.
05:26He's pretty clear-minded, so he's clear on what he wants to do.
05:29Yeah, you touched upon Hazelwood's fitness and also mentioned that NGD might not be there after two games.
05:37So in the event, both are not available.
05:40Have you looked that far, and do you have the bowling areas covered?
05:43Yeah, we've obviously got Nguyen Tashara in the squad.
05:47International bowler chomping at the bit.
05:49Understandably probably frustrated that he can't get on the field, but I think that's when you're going well.
05:53These things happen.
05:55Also, Rasik Dar, good bowler.
05:58We really rate Rasik as well.
05:59So we've got options in the squad, so certainly no concerns.
06:02Over the next few days, we'll think about potential replacements as well.
06:05There's a bit of clamour for that at the minute, and lots of teams are doing that.
06:08I prefer not to rush these things, so we'll just take our time and have a think about it.
06:11But we've got enough quality in the changing room already.
06:15More, there's been considerable chatter among the fans that they'll like to pay tribute to Virat, the test cricketer,
06:20by turning up in white jerseys at the ground.
06:23Will that create a bit of a disruption, especially when you have fielders trying to spot the ball?
06:26How do you prepare for it, if it were to happen like that?
06:30It's not something we've thought about or talked about too much.
06:32I've certainly noticed that the fans have been talking about that a little bit,
06:36but I don't think it'll have much of an impact on our players.
06:39Hi, Mo.
06:41There's a bit of weather around the last couple of days in Bangalore.
06:45Does that come into...
06:46A little bit of what, sorry?
06:47There's a bit of weather around the last couple of days.
06:50Does that come into the planning when you're sort of discussing what needs to be done?
06:54Does the batting order or even the bowling structure change according to that?
06:58Well, it certainly does influence maybe our preparation.
07:01We've deliberately practiced in the afternoon today because we were concerned about rain this evening.
07:06So those things you can control.
07:08When you get to game day, you can't control it.
07:11So actually you want your players to feel as clear and relaxed as possible.
07:14You trust them to make decisions in the moment regardless of what happens.
07:18We don't overthink any of those things really.
07:21If the game's rain affected, it's rain affected.
07:24It's not something any of us control.
07:26So we don't really think too much about that, but it might influence our preparation.
07:29Hopefully, for the fans and for everybody, we get to play our game
07:32because all we want to do is play well and put on a bit of a show.
