IPL 2020 | RCB will back youngsters and local players this edition, admits Simon Katich
Simon Katich has admitted that Virat Kohli-led RCB will bank heavily on the youngsters and local players this edition to get their setup right alongside looking at their foreign recruits. Katich further admitted that AB de Villiers keeping wickets will surely be a topic of discussion this season.
Decision making in the RCB camp has been quite disheartening in the past but with the appointment of Mike Hesson and Simon Katich, the franchise looks to erase their past experience. Before the well-awaited 2020 edition in the Middle East, RCB’s head-coach Simon Katich admitted that retaining and showing faith in youngsters and getting the right balance of the overseas players are two key aspects this season.
Under the leadership of Kohli, the franchise has reached the IPL final in 2016, before David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad stole a win from under their nose. However, this year, the franchise have shown their confidence on the youngsters, Devdutt Padikkal, Pavan Deshpande and allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed. While the southpaw has shown immense potential in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Karnataka, the other two have also shown incredible promise in the domestic season.
"The other thing he's got is passion and energy for this group, a real affinity. If you look back at the auction, we retained a lot of players despite the last few seasons not going to plan. The biggest change we've made is more so from the overseas contingent to try and balance the team. From that point of view, there's a real belief from Virat that's directed to this group and his backing of the local boys. That's probably been the stand out thing for me," said Katich, reported ESPNCricinfo.
Another key aspect for this season, as per Katich would be AB de Villiers’ form. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been heavily used by the franchise purely as a batsman, with Parthiv Patel donning the gloves. However, this season, the Australian has hinted that there would be a discussion about de Villiers going back with the gloves ahead of Patel.
"We have had a lot of discussions about the make-up of our team. I think it is hard to say anything now, we have three weeks of the camp to get through and see how things turn out physically. Obviously, AB has kept wickets before and that will be a topic for discussion," he added.
“We know he is a world-class performer. He will be revitalised with the break. He had a fantastic tournament in South Africa recently. He is coming in confident on the back of that. We'll play it by the ear, let's see what happens."
While the schedule for the tournament has not yet been clarified by the IPL governing council, as per the earlier tentative schedule, the tournament will start on September 19, running until November 10.
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