Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis has disclosed that the squad’s members have not slept much since the Eliminator match against the Lucknow Super Giants in Kolkata. The match between LSG and RCB happened on Tuesday evening, but because of a rain delay, the match ended by midnight.
The Bangalore-based franchise won that game and sealed a place in the Qualifier 2 match against the Rajasthan Royals. While the Eliminator match was in Kolkata, the Qualifier 2 game is in Ahmedabad. So the players had to take a flight and reach Ahmedabad to play another game on Friday evening.
Speaking with RCB on a social media video, Faf du Plessis said that the players are a little short on sleep because the Eliminator match ended later than expected.
“It’s emotionally straining, there was not a lot of sleep for most of us because we got back quite late because the game started late,” said the RCB skipper.
Faf du Plessis reveals Royal Challengers Bangalore players’ mindset ahead of IPL 2022 Eliminator match
In IPL 2020 and 2021, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were knocked out of the IPL after losing in the Eliminator match. To make sure that the same thing did not repeat in IPL 2022, Faf du Plessis made sure that the RCB players are not so hyped up about the big game. He wanted them to remain calm and play their natural game.
“For me it was important before these games, we brought those emotions down a little bit. It was just having that really calm dressing room where guys are not hyping up a must-win game,” he added.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore will play another do-or-die match later tonight at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It will interesting to see if RCB will qualify for the final for the first time since 2016 or RR make it to the summit clash for the first time since 2008.
