Both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders suffered defeats in their opening Champions League T20 games but bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad feels the home side stands a good chance of opening its account when the two clash at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
“We beat KKR both times last year in the IPL,” Prasad said here on Tuesday. “We are taking that confidence into this game.
“We were watching KKR play — the team almost missed out on qualification and has lost the last game. So that's something we would like to cash in on. But at the same time it is a fantastic side on a given day and we don't want to take any team lightly.”
Prasad said the team had gotten over the last-ball defeat to Warriors. “It was a good game. Talking about the last over, it's difficult for any bowler to defend seven runs — in fact, even (defending) 10 runs is hard in this form of the game.
“Being a smart bowler, Arvind took the game till the last ball. But that's behind us — whatever is in the past is in the past.”
The bowling in the final few overs had not been ideal, Prasad conceded. “Yeah, it is something we have been working on for quite some time now. From the last two games of the IPL, a trend has started where we have conceded nearly 10 runs per over.
“But we are working on it. The nets have been similar to match situations — trying to play under pressure.”
The 42-year-old lavished further praise on left-armer Arvind. “He is a terrific bowler and was probably the find of the IPL,” Prasad said.
“It is surprising for me at times that he is not in the India ‘A' side or in the Indian team. He has evolved as a bowler; you can notice some sort of improvement in every game.
“He knows his strengths and limitations and works around them, keeping the batsman guessing. That's what bowling is all about.”
