In an exclusive interview with TOI, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis reveals the work that went into transforming the team from also-rans to title contenders
BENGALURU: At the halfway mark of the Indian Premier League, few would have wagered on
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
making the playoffs of the world's most glamorous T20 tournament. Yet, RCB scripted one of the most stunning turnarounds by winning all their last six league matches to cement their place in the top-four.
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Pilloried for the team's performance in the first half, captain Faf du Plessis, a veteran of international and franchise cricket, remained stoic. He accepted defeat with grace, acknowledged his team's shortcomings, but also emphasised that giving up wasn't an option.
With the Eliminator against former champions Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad looming, the 39-year-old du Plessis believes the job is still only half done. In an exclusive interview with TOI, his first this season, the South African spoke at length about his team's journey this season.
Excerpts:
What's the pressure of leading a fancied team which is yet to win an IPL title?
Captaincy comes with a bit more than what's on your plate. I've been doing it for such a long time, I see that as an opportunity more than pressure. You're never going to get away from the fact that there's pressure, whether you're captaining a big franchise like RCB or a country like South Africa. But I've always loved doing it and I've enjoyed this experience. The last three years at RCB have been awesome for me to almost find a new purpose after captaining the Proteas. I've loved every minute.
The start of the season was like a horror show for RCB. What is it that you think the team lacked?
When you start a tournament, you do everything you can to make sure that you are prepared. And we did certainly do that. I feel like we ticked every single box. But you need some other things to fall into place. You need form, which always plays a big part at the beginning of a competition. You also need a bit of luck as injuries and stuff like that also play a role.
There were a few guys in the team looking to find their best form. If you take from a batting perspective, it was only probably Virat (Kohli) at that stage who was in good form and scoring runs. There's always another guy or a third guy that's still scoring the runs and, in our case, we didn't have that. I was searching for runs, so were Rajat (Patidar), Maxi (
Glenn Maxwell
) and (Cameron) Greenie. So as a whole batting unit, we were just looking to find our best form. From a bowling perspective, guys like (Mohammed) Siraj were looking to find form. Siraj came into the competition having played a lot of red-ball cricket.
When you lose a couple of games, then your confidence starts taking a little bit of a hit. And with the standard of the IPL being so high, you as an individual and as a team need to make sure that you're as close to your best to be able to perform as a team.
How did you address the elephant in the room?
In the middle of the season, I felt we needed to do some things better in terms of learning from our mistakes, not doing the same things over and over again. So, we changed our reviewing of games. We looked at our first few games from an analytical point of view. We made sure that we looked at the data, the numbers and the style of play that was successful at that stage. We looked at the best teams and analysed where we were. We were very clear in what we needed to do to become better. Form was the issue we wanted to fix and looking back, once that was worked out, it ensured a change of our fortunes. The confidence started coming back in the group and everyone started pulling in performances. It obviously turned into a miraculous turnaround where every single member in the team feels like they're contributing well.
How did the support staff led by Mo Bobat and Andy Flower help?
Andy and Mo were excellent. They were calm and optimistic that we were going to get it right.
Can you take us through the turnaround?
We were very hungry to turn it around and felt like we weren't far away from it. We just needed one game to get that confidence through the group. And once we had that first victory, it was like there was a shift in everyone's mindset and everyone was like, Ok, right, this is what we've been waiting for a very long time. And you look back six games ago now and you go, the cricket that we've played in the last six games has been nothing short of extraordinary.
How did you deal with the players who were going through a lean phase?
I'm a big believer in that we're not machines and so you're not always going to perform. I try to take the pressure off the performance element and just look at the person. You need to make sure that you put that person in an environment where he feels like he can bring out the best version of himself. There's also a level of trust that goes with that. I think if a player feels that he's backed and he's trusted, he will come good. I care for the guys in the group. So hopefully, they can see that.
If someone had said a few weeks back that you could mount a comeback like this without an all-rounder like Maxwell, would you have believed it?
At the beginning of the tournament, if someone told me that Green, Maxwell, myself, Patidar, Siraj would be not performing in the first four games, I would have said that's not possible. There's no way I would have believed that. But obviously, guys came in at that stage, someone like
Will Jacks
had a real impact for us.
The break seems to have done Maxwell a world of good…
We all know that Maxi is an unbelievable cricketer. Sometimes, form is not on your side and you fight so hard to try and get it back. Especially in a competition like this, you tend to go deeper into trying too hard and then it goes the other way. He had a nice break where he could just slowly find his mojo again off the field and start focusing on stripping it down to the basics of his game again and train in a way where there's no pressure on a game the next day. He's got a lot of experience, so he knows how to get there. I'm very optimistic that the backend of the tournament is where we're going to see Maxi thrive. He's obviously a guy who's been in big matches before and he's always been a guy who stands up in big games.
Your thoughts on your bowlers' comeback?
Unbelievable. There's always so much (negative) talk about RCB bowlers, which I don't believe in it. Since coming into this team, there's not one thing here that works separately. It's us as a team. So, there's never going to be the bowlers or the batters who are to blame.
In the beginning, the bowlers were struggling a bit. And then you need big characters who stand up. Yash Dayal this year has been tremendous. He's been consistent, carrying the bowling attack almost right through. And then it was like this wildfire that just spread confidence through the group. All the bowlers started to fire. We've bowled teams out two or three times, which in today's era, it's almost unheard of. The ability to get wickets for us has been a huge reason why we've done so well.
So, the strategic move of dropping Siraj for a match worked well?
Credit to Siraj's character. There was a point in the season where we felt that it was the right thing for him just to try someone else. And Siraj, as any big player would be in that position, was probably not expecting that. But for us, it was a brave call. And in hindsight, I think that was a good decision because what happened was one game on the bench and he came back absolutely firing with a point to prove. He's been excellent since then.
As a leader, when the chips are down, how do you keep the boat afloat?
Experience. That takes you through some difficult times when you're a little bit older. I've gone through the worst and the best. And in that, I've learned that it's important to stay the same in your highs and lows. So, whether you've got great success of winning the IPL or massive failures of crashing out of a tournament, I think what people look for is that calmness and consistency.
Credit to the team owners as well for the way they handled situations. It was Game 7 or Game 8, I told them thank you for being so calm and positive. It's easy to be friendly and positive and upbeat and optimistic when a team is doing well. But you really measure whether it's a person's leadership or a group's leadership when things are going the opposite way.
You are nearing 40, what keeps you going, especially your electric presence as a fielder?
Being at the age of where I am, your mind plays probably the biggest factor in what you want to try and achieve. My mind still loves the game of cricket. I still want to try and get better. I still want to learn from the game. I don't feel I'm at that point where I'm just in cruise control. I really put a lot of work into my fitness and my body. I train differently from what I did when I was younger.
Irrespective of what happens in the Eliminator, how proud are you of this team?
I'm very proud. When we were one out of eight, I didn't hear one ounce of negativity from any of the players or staff. Everyone was still the same - caring and hoping for the best for each other. Everyone wants to win. Everyone wants to play and do well. But I tend to look at the other side of things. How can you make sure that you can create a good environment where people are enjoying their cricket and having fun? I'm having a great time with a great group of guys, who I am extremely proud of.
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