"As far as recruitment for next year....": RCB coach Flower after loss to RR in eliminator

RCB's dream run following a horrid first half and a winning streak of six games finally came to an end after a four-wicket loss to RR in the eliminator at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.

Though RCB won six back-to-back games to seal a playoff spot, which was highly unlikely just a few days ago, they had lost seven of their first eight games. RCB lost three of their seven matches at home this year and it had a lot to do with their bowling and short boundaries at Chinnnaswamy, as the bowlers leaked runs easily and on many occasions, neutralised whatever home advantage RCB had.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Flower said that though it was too early to talk about who will be recruited in the bowling attack for next season, there is definitely a need for someone who is "skilful and intelligent" enough to come up with a plan specifically for bowling at Chinnnaswamy.

"As far as recruitment for next year, it is a bit early to talk about that. Quite frankly, I do not want to talk about that yet. I do think though the Chinnaswamy has some particular qualities that we need to be able to exploit. You certainly need highly skilful bowlers at Chinnaswamy. Simply pace is not going to be the answer there. You need skilful, intelligent bowlers and people that can bowl to really specific plans at Chinnaswamy," said Flower.

"And I think we have all seen how the power game has affected T20 cricket recently. So on the batting front, you certainly need to recruit batsmen with that sort of power that can keep up that sort of tempo," he added.

Flower lauded the team for the fightback they showed over the last month and lauded opening batters, skipper Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli for offering some quality leadership that helped them script an inspiring comeback into the competition.

"I think our guys have fought brilliantly over the last 10 weeks to come back from our first half of the tournament was a great effort and I certainly would pay tribute to Faf du Plessis for his captaincy and Faf and Virat for the way they have led from the front as role models and professional sports people. But also the way they have played. They both really been great role models for everyone else and the rest of the boys fought really hard to get us back into the tournament," said Flower.

Coming to the match, RR won the toss and elected to bowl first. Almost every RCB batter got a start, but they could not convert them into a big knock. Rajat Patidar (34 in 22 balls, with two fours and two sixes), Virat Kohli (33 in 24 balls, with three fours and a six) and Mahipal Lomror (32 in 17 balls, with two fours and two sixes) emerged as top-scorers, taking RCB to 172/8 in their 20 overs.

Avesh Khan (3/44) was the top bowler for RR. Ravichandran Ashwin (2/19) and Trent Boult (1/16) also did a fine job putting brakes on RCB run rate.

In the run-chase, the Royals' got off to a fine start, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (45 in 30 balls, with eight fours) and Tom Kohler Cadmore (20 in 15 balls, with four boundaries) putting on a 46-run stand. From then on, RCB bowlers applied some pressure on Rajasthan, restricting the run-flow and getting some wickets. RR was restricted to 112/4 in 13.1 overs. However, Riyan Parag (36 in 26 balls, with two fours and two sixes) held one end before he was dismissed while Shimron Hetmyer (26 in 14 balls, with three fours and a six) and Rovman Powell (16* in eight balls, with two fours and a six) attacked RCB in the last few overs to get a four-wicket win with an over left.

Mohammed Siraj (2/33) was the top bowler for RCB.

Ashwin took home the 'Player of the Match' award.

Now, RR will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in qualifier two on May 24 in Chennai to decide who plays Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final on May 26. (ANI)