IPL 2022: We Built A Squad Around Our Retained Players, But We Didn’t Necessarily Have To Rely On Them – Mike Hesson

Published - 28 May 2022, 07:32 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:07 AM

Mike Hesson. Image: BCCI/IPL

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Director of Cricket Operations, Mike Hesson, has said that they built a squad around their retained players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 but they didn’t have to be over-dependent on their retained players to carry them throughout the tournament as several different players performed very well in the cash-rich league.

Royal Challengers Bangalore were the last team to qualify for the Indian Premier League 2022 playoffs and they defeated Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator to enter the Qualifier 2. However, they faced a defeat in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals to get knocked out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Mike Hesson said that he was pleased to see several different players performing well for them in the 15th edition of the tournament. He said:

“If you rely solely on two or three players, you’re not going to make it to the playoffs. The beauty of our side has been we didn’t necessarily rely on all of our retained players. We built a squad around our retained players, but we didn’t necessarily have to rely on them for every game. That was probably the most pleasing aspect, the fact that so many different players stood out.”

Mohammed Siraj discussing with Faf du Plessis (Image Credits: IPL)

The Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Director of Cricket Operations further talked about the performances of pacer Mohammed Siraj and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell. He elaborated:

“Mohammed Siraj is a fine bowler; he didn’t have his best tournament, but we know that he will come back strong. He just quite didn’t get those new ball wickets, didn’t get the ball swinging, and lost a little bit of confidence, but as I said, he will bounce back.

“Glenn Maxwell had a good all-round season with both bat and ball – very high strike rate, average close to 30, a strike rate of 170 and went for seven an over with the ball. Sure, you always want more, but he’s had a pretty good tournament.

Mike Hesson also spoke about skipper Faf du Plessis and former skipper Virat Kohli and said that he is pleased with the way the team gelled in the Indian Premier League 2022. He asserted:

“At the top of the order, Virat (Kohli) and Faf (du Plessis). Obviously, we started with Virat at three and moved him to the top and he certainly got better and better as the season went on. Look, he was in really good touch in the last four or five innings.”

“There are always things you want to tweak, when you get knocked out of a tournament, there are always areas we need to improve, but all in all, pleased with the way the team gelled this season,” concluded the former New Zealand head coach.

We struggled to get any momentum – Mike Hesson on RCB’s batting performance vs RR in Qualifier 2

Mike Hesson, while talking about the batting performance of Royal Challengers Bangalore in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals, said that they were in a position to score 175-180 but pacers Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy bowled well to restrict RCB at 157/8.

“It’s a fair reflection; 123 for 3 with five overs to go, we were very much in a position to get potentially 175-180 with (Glenn) Maxwell set along with (Rajat) Patidar. We lost those two wickets and then in the last three overs, Obed McCoy and (Prasidh) Krishna bowled nicely, and we struggled to get any momentum. We only got 30 odd off the last five, probably leaving us 20 short,” said Hesson in the post-match virtual press conference.

Mike Hesson further said that the performance of Royal Challengers Bangalore batters in death overs has been outstanding throughout the tournament but they failed miserably in the crucial Qualifier 2 clash against RR.

“You are always after more power hitters. I think between Maxwell, who was well set after 15 overs, Patidar has got power, Lomror has power, Shahbaz Ahmed has shown he’s got power. We have had a number of guys stand up along with Dinesh Karthik who has been outstanding.

“In the last five overs of the innings, our death run-scoring throughout the season has been exceptional. It’s probably more at the top end where we didn’t get that momentum, but other than today, we’ve pretty much nailed the last five overs of most innings,” he said.