Daniel Vettori: RCB side lacked belief this season

The Royal Challengers Banglore have been at their ultimate low this season. The losing streak continued when the RCB side suffered a 61-run loss at the hands of the Rising Pune Supergiants on Saturday. The Bangalore batting line-up once again collapsed and was unable to chase a modest target of 158.

The Virat Kohli-led side started its campaign with the motto of 'playing bold' but the way the tournament has gone this season the Bangalore side would require a miracle to make it to the playoffs even after winning all of their remaining games.

The Bangalore coach admitted that the side did not live up to their motto this season.

“We just try to get the guys confidence, allow them to play in the manner which we expect. RCB’s catch phrase is to play bold and that’s what we talked to the guys, ‘just go out there and play the kind of game you can irrespective of the score or start of the game,’” Vettori told Hindustan Times.

“Probably, some of the wickets we played on made it tricky for the guys to go out there and play. They were difficult wickets to bat on, but that’s no excuse as both teams had exactly the same wicket," said the former Kiwi spinner.

Vettori admitted that the side was unable to turn their fortunes around this time which they did successfully last year.

“You try and do a lot of things in the background. In the last two years we started off poorly, but were able to rectify it. Unfortunately, we have not been able to do it this time. It’s about building confidence within the group because you can see that at the moment. It is hard for the guys to take control of their games. We haven’t had that belief to allow us to build the confidence, which is the trickiest thing so far.”

The RCB skipper Kohli has been quite vocal about the side's lack of intent this season and their batting performance against the Pune side was just another example of that.

RCB's campaign might be over this season but coach Vettori is all set to make a grand exit from the tournament.

“It’s not the time yet to assess the campaign. We still have four games left. It will be important for the pride of the franchise. Before we gather ourselves, we have a pretty tough schedule with four games in nine days,” said the former New Zealand captain.

RCB is known for its star-studded batting line-up but this season the stars lacked the lustre required to produce moments of magic.

“Last season we had a different batting line-up with the likes of KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan (both are injured). We had a number of other guys who underperformed, which we didn’t expect of them. Virat has led us exceptionally well with his captaincy, with his batting. He’s been the lone light. So, the group knows where we are not performing and we need to rectify it in our next few games,”, added the RCB coach.