BENGALURU: Halfway through the Indian Premier League, only a few would have thought that Royal Challengers Bengaluru could make it into the playoffs of the world’s most glamorous T20 tournament. In spite of this, RCB won each of their last six league matches in one of IPL’s most outstanding comebacks to confirm their place among top-four.
Faf du Plessis the captain, who has played international and franchise cricket for many years, did not complain even if his team performed pathetically. He smiled in defeat, admitted his team had weaknesses but he also insisted that they never gave up.
At 39 years old and facing an eliminator against former champions Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad, Du Plessis believes there is a lot still required to be done herein. This season’s first exclusive interview with TOI was given by a South African regarding his team’s journey thus far.
Excerpts:
How does it feel like leading a found team which has never won IPL?
Captaincy comes with extra baggage than just what you have on your plate. I’ve been doing it for such a long time, I see that as an opportunity more than pressure. You’re never going to get away from the fact that there’s pressure whether you’re captaining a big franchise like RCB or a country like South Africa. But I’ve always loved doing it and I’ve enjoyed this experience.Last three years at RCB have been awesome for me almost finding another purpose after captainning the Proteas.I’ve loved every minute
It was really nightmarish start for RCB this season. What do you think is lacking for the side?
When you are starting off with a competition, there is everything you can do so as to ensure that you are ready for it. And we did certainly do that. There were some boxes we ticked. However, there are other things that also need to fall in place. In the beginning of any competition form always plays a huge role. Similarly, you require luck as well because injuries and stuff like that also have a say in the matter.
There were some players who were looking to find their best form in the team. If you take from a batting perspective, it was only probably Virat (Kohli) at that stage who was in good form and scoring runs.There is always another guy or third guy still scoring the runs and we did not have such thing going. I was looking for runs so were Rajat (Patidar), Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) and Greenie (Cameron). So as a whole batting unit, we were just looking to find our best form.As for bowling, guys like Siraj Mohammed really needed to find form.Siraj had been playing lot of red ball crickets coming into this tournament.
When you lose few games then your confidence starts taking little bit of hit.And with IPL standards being very high you need to make sure that you as an individual and your team are close to your best so that you can play together as one team.
How did you handle the issue of the elephant in the room?
In the middle of the season, I thought we had to enhance some things in terms of learning from our mistakes, not doing the same things over and over again. Thus, we changed our way of examining games. We looked at our first few games from an analytical viewpoint. We made it certain that we went through data, statistics and type of play that was successful during those periods. We checked out where we were compared to top teams. We were very explicit in what needed to be done if we are going to improve more than anything else. It was fixing form problem and when looking back; it transformed everything for us once this happened. The confidence started coming back in the group and everyone started pulling in performances. As a result, this ultimately turned into a miraculous turnaround where every single member is feeling like they’re contributing well.
What role did Mo Bobat and Andy Flower have as members of support staff?
Andy and Mo were good about it all as they kept their cool knowing that eventually we would get there.
Can you let us know how you turned it around?
We were so eager to turn things around because it felt like it wasn’t far away from happening for us. All we needed was just one game where that confidence runs through the group again. And then after having that first win, like everybody’s mindset shifted or whatever and everybody was like “Ok, right on, this is what we’ve been waiting for ages.” And you look back six games ago now and you go ‘the cricket that we’ve played in last 6 games has been nothing short of extraordinary’.
How did you handle players going through lean patches?
I don’t believe people are robots hence they can’t perform always. My preference is therefore not putting pressure on someone’s performance but focusing more on who he is as a person. You must make sure that person feels comfortable enough to be himself. There is also that aspect of trust. If a player feels like he’s been backed and trusted, then he will come good. I care about the guys in the group. So hopefully they can see that.
Had someone told you a few weeks ago that you could come back like this without an all-rounder like Maxwell, would you have believed it?
And in the first four games of the tournament, if somebody had said Green, Maxwell, myself, Patidar, Siraj won’t perform well again I would have replied that’s impossible. But obviously men came in at that stage; for example Will Jacks really had some influence on us.
Maxwell seems to have benefited from the break…
We all know Maxi is an unbelievable cricketer. Sometimes bad form has nothing to do with you and you try your best to recover it. Especially in a competition like this where you tend to dig too deep into trying so harder such that everything goes wrong. He had a nice break where he could just slowly find his mojo again off the field and start focusing on stripping it down to the basics of his game again and train in such a way where there’s no pressure on a game tomorrow or any other day. He knows how to get there-we’ve got lots of experience. I’m very optimistic that we’ll see Maxi shine more towards the backend of this tournament. And that obvious guy who’s always been big in big matches before.
What do you think about your bowlers coming back?
Unbelievable! There is always much talk (negative) about RCB bowlers which I don’t believe it at all. There is not one thing here which works separately since coming into this team. It’s us as a team. So there will never be bowlers or batters who are at fault.
The bowlers were struggling a bit initially but then you need strong characters who stand up for their side.Yash Dayal this year has been tremendous; he has been consistent almost right through carrying the bowling attack.And then as though it was wildfire going through them all confidence.I have seen all of our bowlers started to fire. We’ve bowled teams out two or three times, which in today’s era, it’s almost unknown. The ability for us to get wickets has been massive, that is why we have done so well.
Thus, dropping Siraj for a match was a good strategic move?
Credit goes to Siraj’s character. At some point in the season we felt like it was right just to give someone else a go. And I guess Siraj being any big player would not have expected this. But for us it was a brave call. And as far as am concerned that was actually a great decision because what happened was one game on the bench and he came back absolutely firing with a point to prove.He’s been excellent since then.
What do you do as leader when this team is down and out?
That is what one undergoes upon becoming a bit old at times. I have gone through it all, the worst and the best. Henceforth, in that, I learned that even when my lows are lower than ever before, I should never change who I am. In other words, people look out for coolness and constancy whether their team wins the IPL or they crash out of a league.
Moreover, much appreciation goes to the team owners how they handled it. It was game 8 or 7; I thanked them for being so relaxed and optimistic. It is easy to be friendly and positive and upbeat and optimistic when a team is doing well. But you really measure whether it’s a person’s leadership or a group’s leadership when things are going the opposite way.
Nearing 40, what keeps you going? Why are you such a lively outfielder?
Your mindset I think is the biggest part of what you want to accomplish when you get to my age. My mind still adores cricket. I still want to improve. I’d still like knowledge from the game. I don’t think I am in that stage where it’s just cruise control. My fitness and my body are something else that I work hard on really a lot for me to be that athletic person that you see today. The training style is different compared to when I was young.
No matter the Eliminator outcome, how proud are you of this team?
I am very proud. When we were one out of eight, there was no voice of negativity coming out of any player or staff member’s mouth. Everyone remained caring as well as wishing each other good luck all the time. Everybody wants to win but also wants to play and do well. Though for me, there is always another side, which can we provide an environment where people will enjoy their cricket and have a great time too? It has been a good season with a fantastic bunch of guys whom I’m extremely proud of myself running around with them.
