Josh Hazlewood, the fast bowler for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, shared his thoughts about the team’s recent struggles during a post-match conference. He pointed out that the pitch at Chinnaswamy Stadium was pretty unusual this time around, and the players seemed to struggle to apply what they had learned from earlier matches. On Friday night, RCB faced off against Punjab Kings and ended up losing by five wickets in a shortened 14-over match, marking their third consecutive loss at home. They had already faced defeats against Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals in previous games, adding to their frustration.
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Hazlewood commented on the state of the pitch, saying, It’s not your typical Chinnaswamy wicket. Usually, you can expect a certain bounce here, but this year, it hasn’t been as steady as in the past. He added that RCB mentor Dinesh Karthik also expressed his disappointment with the pitch after their earlier loss, stating he wanted to discuss it with the grounds staff.
The Australian cricketer noted that part of their problem stemmed from not making the most of the power play, where they could have established a stronger foundation. We’ve now lost three home games in a row. It feels like we haven’t picked up on the lessons from the first two matches and applied them early on, especially during the first six to eight overs,” he explained, hinting that getting off to a better start could’ve made a difference given how the scores turned out.
Despite the ongoing issues, Hazlewood remained hopeful. He mentioned, Once we get back to Bangalore, we’ll take a closer look at everything and brainstorm ways to improve. Though he recognized that the bowling performance has been getting better compared to the earlier matches, he mentioned that it still wasn’t happening fast enough.
Hazlewood also offered some advice to his batting teammates. He suggested they take a step back and evaluate the game situation before going for aggressive shots. Maybe it’s time to tone it down a bit and give ourselves a moment to figure things out. We’ve seen how a big partnership from the other side has hurt us, he said. He emphasized that if their top-order batsmen can put in a solid performance over the entire 20 overs, it could really turn things around for the team. In short, he believes it’s all about finding the right balance between aggression and patience to secure those much-needed wins.
