New Delhi, April 16 (IANS) Former Australia captain Aaron Finch believes Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s success this IPL season is rooted in their commitment to an aggressive batting philosophy and backing their team to play to their strengths, even in comfortable situations, following their clinical win over the Lucknow Super Giants.

Chasing a modest target of 147 after a disciplined bowling effort, RCB continued to press the accelerator rather than shutting the game down conventionally. A brisk cameo from skipper Rajat Patidar set the tone, while Jitesh Sharma played a fearless knock of 23 off nine balls, his first double-digit score of the season despite a string of low returns earlier. Finishers Tim David and Romario Shepherd then wrapped up the chase with unbeaten cameos.

Finch pointed out that Jitesh’s approach of not holding back, even after a lean run, reflects the confidence and clarity within the RCB setup.

“That’s just a batting unit with a lot of confidence. You can see the gap between the teams on the top of the table and the bottom. That was again evident today. They go with a similar structure on how they go about their run-chases. They go hard even when the game (is in their grasp),” Finch told ESPNCricinfo.

Highlighting the team’s refusal to deviate from their attacking template, Finch said RCB’s batters are committed to finishing games on their own terms rather than playing it safe.

“It would’ve been easy in that situation for one of their batters to get 25 not out, but no, that’s not how they play cricket in Bengaluru now. They continue to stick to their guns, they play to their strengths. If the match up is theirs, they go for it. They put to bed games quite comfortably.

“The consequences of when you do that (watchful batting when games are in control), then you lose credibility. (Team-mates might feel that) If someone is prepared to just knock it around and look out for themselves, then, next time they might do that too because they’re worried about next year’s contract. That’s how [team] cultures crumble so quickly. The fact that they went out and did what they talked about – brilliant,” he said.

–IANS

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