Somebody walked up to me this week in Bengaluru and said the top three RCB batsmen remind him of the three strikers playing for Barcelona.
“It’s pure pleasure watching Messi, Suarez and Neymar when they shine for Barca,” he said, “and the cricketing equivalent of three top players in the same team is Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and you filling the top three places in the RCB batting order.”
I thanked him for his kind words, but I was embarrassed by the comparison with the superstar soccer players. In truth, we are only three members of an RCB squad, which is determined to realise its potential in IPL-9.
In reality, we won’t get far without the support of our team-mates. In fact, we will stand or fall as a group; and, as a group, we started well with a win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Chinnaswamy Stadium this week, but we all know we have a long, long way to go.
It has been a massive privilege for me to play alongside Chris and Virat in the past few seasons at RCB. We got to know each other very well over this period, as people and as players, and we have become friends. There is no rivalry between us. We work together, encouraging and being encouraged, urging and being urged, feeding off each other’s knowledge and experience to ensure the best possible team performance on the field.
They are two very different players.
Virat is one of the world’s greatest batsmen, combining an unmatched ability to dispatch the ball with pin-point accuracy with exceptional running between the wickets; there is nobody in the game with the same talent for finding the spaces in the field.
Chris is another of the world’s greatest batsmen, the master of the power game. He reads the game unbelievably well and is quick to assess any weakness in the bowler. He will patiently wait for the right moment to pounce but, when he does, he will send the ball to all corners of any field.
I enjoy every minute spent watching Virat and Chris go about their business, ideally from the non-striker’s end. It’s also great to see Shane Watson playing for RCB this season. I am in awe of the Australian’s bowling ability and the way he works over the batsman.
It will be tough but we must RCB-elieve.
