IPL 2024: SRH need to put in exceptional performance to beat RCB, says Daniel Vettori

Despite RCB's ongoing struggles in the IPL season, SRH head coach Daniel Vettori warns against underestimating Bengaluru's potential, saying an 'exceptional' performance is needed to defeat them.

In Short

• SRH head coach Vettori warns against underestimating RCB's potential
• Vettori said SRH need to produce 'exceptional' performance to beat RCB
• Vettori also praises SRH batsman Heinrich Klaasen for his impact in the IPL

SRH head coach Daniel Vettori did not read too much into RCB's struggles in the ongoing season, saying it will take a "exceptional" effort to beat the hosts on Monday. The Royal Challengers are currently 10th on the IPL table with two points after winning just one out of six matches. "I don't think anyone in any team underestimates the quality of RCB. They're a very good team. So, it's going to take an exceptional performance from us to try and beat them. Every game is hard and particularly when you're playing away from home," Vettori said during his pre-match press conference on Sunday.

Vettori believes RCB may have learned from their previous IPL setbacks, and the home team might put SRH under pressure. "RCB will obviously keep learning from what's happened in the previous games and they're going to come out pretty aggressive. We're going to be under a lot of pressure as a bowling unit for how aggressive they are going to be. "So, we need to find ways to counter that and then keep up with our batting form which has been really good," said Vettori.

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The former New Zealand captain believes it would be foolish to take a large score at Chinnaswamy Stadium for granted. "I think most teams come here thinking that it's going to be a high-scoring fixture. I've probably seen a couple of surfaces this year that have been slightly slower," he said. The former left-arm spinner, who has a lengthy history with RCB as a player and coach, believes teams like to pursue at Chinnaswamy because it is easier to control the back part of the game.

"We understand the ball travels here and the boundary sizes are small. So, I think you have to keep challenging yourself to try and take wickets because any team can score that 60-70 at the backend. "I know no score is safe and I always feel like you're in the game, particularly when you are chasing. Most teams will come here and try to chase because they feel that it's easier to navigate the endings," he explained.

Vettori praised SRH middle-order batsman Heinrich Klaasen, who has performed admirably in the IPL. The South African batsman has scored 186 runs in five matches with a 193 strike rate. "He's been exceptional for a long period of time and he's in that category of the likes of Russell where teams really fear him in that backend and they set up their bowling plans to try and negate him. "But he's been so good for such a long period of time that he has allowed us to either win the games or always be in the game." he added.

Published By:
Saurabh Kumar
Published On:
Apr 14, 2024