RCB players need to be more proactive: Vettori

Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Daniel Vettori has admitted his side needs to be more proactive in the remaining games of the IPL. RCB slumped to the bottom of the points table after their 27-run loss against Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The Virat Kohli-led side are not far from the point of no return. They need to win at least seven of the remaining nine games to have a chance of securing a play-off berth. “The thing is, in the IPL we’re constantly searching for the right balance,” Vettori said.

Vettori also defended his decision to drop Chris Gayle, who needed three runs to complete 10,000 runs in T20s, and replacing him with Shane Watson. “In the Mumbai game, we were down a bowler. Shane has been a successful allrounder in T20s for a long time. So we made the decision to back Shane because of his allround contribution,” he said. “It’s tough for everyone in T20 cricket. A lot of domestic players have had to step in and perform

after missing a few games or not being in their best form. We know Chris Gayle is a very good performer and we know if he can get on a roll, we can utilise Chris in a positive manner. At this stage we are trying to find the right balance,” he added.

During the run chase, RCB did not hit a single four and struck only one six between the fourth and 15th overs, which according to Vettori, added to the pressure.

“We are probably creating pressure on ourselves through dot balls, striking at below 100,” he said. “Trying to catch that up

in the back end on a slow wicket is incredibly difficult. I think in a lot of ways we need to be more proactive,” he added.

The New Zealander also admitted that his team cannot only depend on the likes of Kohli and AB de Villiers to win matches. “We saw what the likes of KL (Rahul), Sachin Baby, all those roles players from last year performed. The expectation is on AB and Virat to excel, but we need the likes of Mandeep (Singh), Kedhar (Jadhav), Shane (Watson) and Stuart Binny to complement their performances.”