Royal Challengers Bangalore's winning streak and Playoff hopes ended on Sunday and bowling coach Ashish Nehra minced no words in blaming his bowlers for the defeat.
“If you ask me, the turning point was when Delhi made 187. Anything over 160 on this track would have been difficult and, honestly, it was not an 187 kind of pitch, there was no reason to concede so many runs. Our bowlers did not perform to potential today,” Nehra said after the game.
He was particularly harsh on Navdeep Saini, who went for 20 runs in the last over, repeatedly bowling full tosses. “He has done well when he bowls those hard length balls to make the batsmen struggle and force them to play. He is still learning but yorkers are not his strength and he kept trying that. You have to stick to your strengths,” Nehra was candid.
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He also admitted that Umesh Yadav was low on confidence. “It does play on your mind that you are not even in the stand-byes for the World Cup. He was unable to get his line right through this season but I hope he comes back stronger. He is experienced but yes, he has been short on confidence this time,” Nehra said.
Delhi Capitals’ spinner Amit Mishra, meanwhile, was pleased with his performance, picking up two wickets. He also explained that as a senior in the side that is largely about young players, his role was more of a reminder than anything else.
“Like Sandeep Lamichhane today, I could see he was trying too hard to get wickets. This was not a track where you could force wickets when you want to. You had to stop the runs and put pressure on the batsmen, forcing them to make mistakes. That’s what I tried to explain. The main role of seniors is to guide the youngsters to stick to the basics,” Mishra, the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL and the only spinner with more than 150 scalps, said.
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