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In a bleak start marred by three losses, the Royal Challengers Bangalore can take heart from A.B. de Villiers's consistency with the bat.
The South African, who turned out for Delhi Daredevils in previous editions of the Indian Premier League, has quickly adapted to his new team's environment and has scored 157 runs from four matches.
A.B. de Villiers stressed “there is nothing wrong with the team.”
He said the players had to improve their overall cricket, especially fielding.
“We all like playing with each other, there are no issues at all. We need to play good cricket. We haven't batted, bowled and fielded well.
“We need to score some runs in the first six overs, but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with our batting or our bowling. We need to tighten up our fielding. Catches have been dropped like Michael Hussey's at Chennai,” de Villiers said here on Monday.
The wicketkeeper-batsman said the team could swing back into form. “In Twenty20 cricket you can gain and lose momentum quickly. This is not an ideal situation. We have had a chat within the team and we hope to do better. We tried pinch-hitters like Zaheer Khan and Asad Pathan up the order in the previous games but on Tuesday, we are most likely to go in with our best five batters atop the order. We need to string partnerships,” he said.
To add to its woes, Royal Challengers will miss injured seamer Dirk Nannes. “I am not sure what exactly the situation is but I think he is out for five weeks and is not likely to play (against Rajasthan Royals),” de Villiers said and added that though Rahul Dravid was in the opposition ranks, he expected the crowd to back Royal Challengers. “Hopefully Dravid won't do well tomorrow,” de Villiers said.
The South African, who turned out for Delhi Daredevils in previous editions of the Indian Premier League, has quickly adapted to his new team's environment and has scored 157 runs from four matches.
A.B. de Villiers stressed “there is nothing wrong with the team.”
He said the players had to improve their overall cricket, especially fielding.
“We all like playing with each other, there are no issues at all. We need to play good cricket. We haven't batted, bowled and fielded well.
“We need to score some runs in the first six overs, but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with our batting or our bowling. We need to tighten up our fielding. Catches have been dropped like Michael Hussey's at Chennai,” de Villiers said here on Monday.
The wicketkeeper-batsman said the team could swing back into form. “In Twenty20 cricket you can gain and lose momentum quickly. This is not an ideal situation. We have had a chat within the team and we hope to do better. We tried pinch-hitters like Zaheer Khan and Asad Pathan up the order in the previous games but on Tuesday, we are most likely to go in with our best five batters atop the order. We need to string partnerships,” he said.
To add to its woes, Royal Challengers will miss injured seamer Dirk Nannes. “I am not sure what exactly the situation is but I think he is out for five weeks and is not likely to play (against Rajasthan Royals),” de Villiers said and added that though Rahul Dravid was in the opposition ranks, he expected the crowd to back Royal Challengers. “Hopefully Dravid won't do well tomorrow,” de Villiers said.