HYDERABAD: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bowler Wayne Parnell on Thursday heaped praise on his captain Faf du Plessis and said that the opener gives players a lot of freedom to go out and perform.
In a crucial encounter, Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their home ground as the race for the playoffs heats up.
RCB are currently in the fifth position of the points table, two adrift of Mumbai Indians who are in the fourth position with 14 points. Sunrisers Hyderabad have managed to rack four wins from 12 games that has left them reeling at rock bottom with a net run rate of -0.575.
“Massive in terms of firstly getting two points. Then also the NRR. We got into the positive from the negative. But then as the great Hashim Amla says you are as good as your next game. We have to start afresh again. Trying to contribute to every team I play for. Really nice to be back here. Nice to see how IPL has progressed every season. Faf has been excellent. His style of leadership is different from most guys. He brings in a lot of calmness. He gives the guys a lot of freedom and confidence. It makes you go out there and perform,” Parnell said in a pre-match presentation.
Coming to the match, RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bowl against SRH in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match here at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Speaking at the time of the toss, Faf du Plessis said, “We are gonna have a bowl. The last two nights we have had some dew. Good surface but touch on the slower side. Same team as the last game. Hasaranga has a niggle. Bracewell strengthens our batting. We have to start afresh. The game of cricket has a funny way of biting you. You have to have the humility of looking at a fresh game.”
“We would have looked to bat. Not too disappointed. A couple of changes. Brook comes in. Tyagi comes in as well. Umran is an x-factor player. A lot of pride to play for. We haven’t lived up to the ability. We should try to showcase that at the world stage in the last two games,” Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Aiden Markram said.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat(w), Shahbaz Ahmed, Michael Bracewell, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma and Mohammed Siraj.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Dagar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Nitish Reddy. (ANI)