Mike Hesson also insisted that RCB didn't rely on all of their retained players.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) yet again failed to make it to the finals despite qualifying for the playoffs for three consecutive seasons after the franchise crashed out of the IPL 2022 on Friday (May 27).
RCB suffered a heartbreaking defeat by 7 wickets at the hands of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the second qualifier of the IPL 2022 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. With the defeat, RCB’s hopes of winning their maiden IPL trophy also crashed.
Mike Hesson, RCB’s director of cricket operations, admitted that his team fell '20 runs short', as they could manage just 157 runs that RR chased down in 18.1 overs.
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As reported by Sportstar, Mike Hesson stated: “If you rely solely on two or three players, then you are not going to make the playoffs. The beauty of our side is that we did not necessarily rely on all of our retained players. We built a squad around our retained players, but we did not have to necessarily rely on all of them. That was probably the most pleasing aspect, and that’s why so many players stood up.”
He has also thrown his support behind his pacer Mohammed Siraj and Virat Kohli who didn’t have a good season this year. Hesson said: “Siraj is a fine bowler, he did not have his best tournament, but we know he will come back strong. He did not quite get those new ball wickets, did not get the ball swinging, and lost a bit of confidence, but he will bounce back.”
Hesson signed off by saying, “We started with Virat Kohli at No. three and moved him to top. He only got better and better as the tournament went on. Looked in good touch in the last four or five innings. When you get knocked out of the tournament, you can find areas where we need to improve. Pretty pleased with the way the team gelled this season.”