VETTORI READY FOR NEW INNINGS
With the wounds of losing to Australia in the World Cup final at Melbourne last Sunday slowly fading away and having brought the curtains down on his glittering ODI career, Kiwi Daniel Vettori is now excited about donning the coach’s hat.
Besides the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the former left- arm spinner also struck a three- year deal with Big Bash League’s Brisbane Heat two days ago.
Following an emotional return from the World Cup, the 36- year- old Vettori, who arrived in the city on Thursday night said, “I think it was satisfying in many ways, especially when you make it to the final. Obviously, you would have liked to go one step ahead but Australia played wonderful cricket in the final. I think the whole team will look back at the tournament with a lot of fondness.”
A veteran of 305 ODI scalps, the former New Zealand skipper added that the clashes against Australia and South Africa at Eden Park and England at Wellington will linger long in his memories.
Vettori believes the team management has picked the right combination of players for the eighth edition. “We have covered a lot of areas like — bowlers and all- rounders, then there are some strong batsmen. We are pretty satisfied with the combination,” he added.
Having latched on to a stunning one- hander at third- man in the quarterfinals against the West Indies, Vettori expects the RCB fielders will come up with an impressive show while fielding. “We have a wonderful set of fielders like Virat ( Kohli), AB ( de Villiers), and then ( Yuzvendra) Chahal is also brilliant fielder. So, I hope we will give a fine effort on the field during the course of the tournament,” he explained.
With a starry line- up led by Kohli, the expectation of the fans is sky high. “There always have been high expectations on RCB. Last year, we didn’t really meet those. I have confidence in this group that we can achieve a lot this year,” said the towering left- arm spinner.
In their season opener, RCB travel to Eden Gardens to take on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on April 11.
Meanwhile, the rest of the RCB wards were put through the paces by team trainer Shankar Basu.
Aussie speedster Sean Abbot and compatriot left- arm orthodox spinner Nic Maddinson are likely to land in the city on Friday night.
New Zealand quickie Adam Milne, who was injured midway through the World Cup, is expected to join the team in couple of days at Kolkata.