NEW DELHI: Ex-Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has given insightful advice to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, suggesting that the franchise should concentrate on buying Indian players in order to win the Indian Premier League.
In an interview with Star Sports, Kaif praised RCB’s recent run of form in the tournament despite six straight defeats at the start of the season as he said, “They played so badly. They were winless for a month in the tournament.To lose six consecutive matches meant they have fallen far behind because of which their position on the table was very poor… The comeback deserves a mention especially because they had a very slim chance of making it to playoffs.”
Kaif insisted that RCB must learn from this experience exclaiming, “This is a lesson for RCB for next year. So you need to back Indian players.”
He also mentioned how IPL franchises like KKR and Rajasthan Royals have thrived by investing in Indian players; “KKR have invested in Indian players and they are on top, so are Rajasthan Royals.”
Kaif told RCB to change tactics and focus more on nurturing local talents…”RCB should bring in Indian players. Do scouting, bring them in and back them up.”
He warned against over-reliance on foreign players adding, ‘They have an obsession about foreign players…Now there is one good news for them. They learnt how to win without stars like Maxwell.’’
Kaif went ahead to stress that RCB should take a proactive approach towards developing Indian talent saying “…They should invest in them, they will win them the trophy. KKR did it, RR did it. Take examples of Yashasvi Jaiswal/Dhruv Jurel.And Sanju Samson – RR invested a lot on him.” So, identify Indian players and back them.”
