IPL 2019 | There are no quick fixes in the IPL, reveals RCB coach Gary Kirsten
Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Gary Kirsten has admitted that the franchise needs some structural changes in order to do well in the next edition of the Indian Premier League. After a disappointing start, RCB will finish the ongoing edition of the domestic T20 league in the last position.
It has been yet another disappointing IPL season for Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore side who have failed to make the play-off stage of the tournament. Bangalore were touted as one of the favourites to make the top four this year but failed to do so after getting off to a disappointing start which saw them lost their first seven matches of the 12th edition of the tournament.
Former India coach, Gary Kirsten, was appointed as head coach of the Bangalore-based franchise this year but failed to lead them to the knock-out stage of the competition in his first season as the chief coach. Kirsten admitted that certain structural changes will be needed to improve the team in order to do well next year.
"When you look at the beginning before IPL starts and you look at every team, I think some of the experts were saying that we were going to get into the playoffs. There are some structural changes that need to be made that have maybe been around for quite a long time. This is my first year as the head coach, so I've got a better understanding of what those are. We'll certainly discuss with our owners and look into that for next year.
"Unfortunately there are no quick fixes in IPL, you need to move as quickly as you can to get the results you're looking for. And sometimes when you're making quite a lot of shifts around, it takes time. I've always been a fan of - as I'm sure all the coaches are in this IPL - continuity. You want to try and build your core of players and build a culture where you can keep coming back to the same players. I think the most successful franchises in IPL have done that.
"We're searching for that in RCB. While there might be some structural change next year, I'm hopeful and confident we'll have some continuity in our players. Because we need to really start building a core of players that we believe in, and back them," Kirsten told reporters ahead of Bangalore’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.
Kirsten, who was at the helm of the affairs during India's 2011 ICC ODI World Cup campaign, is happy that his team improved themselves in the second half of the season which saw his side win four of his last seven matches in the league.
"You are only having fun when you are winning. It's been a disappointing season. Obviously, we would have liked to have had better results. I've been very encouraged with the second half of the season since we only got two points in the first half. But we've won four of our last seven games, and one of them was a rained-out game. So that's kind of back to the kind of consistency you need. We started to really get things going in the second half, but unfortunately, in IPL if you have a bad start you're always going to be struggling," Kirsten added.
