Not just Aaron Finch, RCB have several players who can help take load off Virat Kohli: Simon Katich

The Indian Premier League (IPL) title has been eluding Royal Challengers Bangalore over the years but head coach Simon Katich says RCB has a core group of senior players who can help the team shine in the upcoming edition of the tournament, starting September 19 in the UAE.

Simon Katich, speaking to reporters via teleconference on Wednesday, said Aaron Finch was high on their priority at December’s auction but it’s not just the Australian captain whom they are looking at to help take the load off captain Virat Kohli.

Katich pointed out that the likes of AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal, Chris Morris are part of a core group that will be helping Kohli not just on match days but behind the scenes as well.

RCB went for experience in the IPL 2020 auction, bringing in seasoned stars, including Finch, Steyen, Morris, Kane Richardson and Isuru Udana along with Joshua Phillipe and Pawan Deshpande. In the likes of de Villiers, Umesh Yadav, Moeen Ali and Parthiv Patel, RCB have no dearth of players with big-ticket matches under their belt.

“Obviously, when we identified players whom we were looking to bring in at the auction, we were looking at experienced international cricketers at the top of their game. Obviously, being a small auction, there were only a certain number of players available but they were some outstanding options at the auctions last year,” Simon Katich said.

“Aaron Finch was high on that list, given what he has been able to achieve for Australia as captain but also a player over the last number of years. He is one of the top-ranked T20I batsmen in the world. He is a very good player of spin. The other thing is he brings leadership to a group.

“It’s not just Aaron Finch. We have got a number of senior players. Obviously AB de Villiers has been at RCB for a number of years now and done very well over the years. He is a senior player who is going to provide that leadership as well for Virat and any help that he needs.

“Virat Kohli has obviously got a huge amount of leadership experience with the Indian team and RCB and hopefully the core group around him will be able to take the load off him from playing point of view also when it comes to getting the group to gel and bonding with the group.

“There is a variety of experienced players, Chahal is another one, Steyn is another, Morris is there. Isuru Udana, Virat has got a lot of senior players there in the group to be able to not only help out on game day but also help, along with the support staff, when it comes to training and preparing and helping the young guys learn the ropes.”

There were holes we needed to fill in, we have filled those nicely: Mike Hesson

Meanwhile, RCB’s Director of Cricket Mike Hesson said the former finalists are aware of their history but a well-balanced squad this year will allow them to play a certain style of cricket that they are hoping for.

Hesson confirmed that RCB players will be training in batches after completing their mandatory 7-day quarantine period. 15 players have already arrived in the UAE and the rest will be joining over the course of the next month.

“Look I think, there was certainly an awful lot of planning in the lead up to the initial IPL. There was a lot of planning Simon, myself and Virat spent a lot of time looking at the way we wanted our squad, looking at the way we wanted to play the game and therefore , getting a squad together that allows us to do that.

“We are all well aware of history but it’s more about making sure that we assemble a team that is strong in all conditions and deal with phases of the game where it’s on the line.

“We have a new group, a new coaching set-up, we have got a squad of players that we think is really well-balanced and like I said, it’s going to allow us to play the style of cricket we want.

“We identified areas, before the auction, where we needed to fill in, I think we have filled those holes nicely.”