After an abysmal first half in the ongoing Indian Premier League, Royal Challengers Bangalore is back to winning ways. The Virat Kohli-led franchise has won three of their last four matches and still has a slim chance of qualifying to the playoffs. No wonder, Moeen Ali feels that it is a shame to leave the RCB camp midway.
Ali along with other English cricketers is set to leave the IPL in a bid to prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, slated to start on May 30.
"It's not ideal. I think it's worse when there are three games to go. If there were 6, 7 games, it was a little more understandable. And knowing that there could be a chance of going through if we win all our games, then you miss out on a potential semifinal and stuff, but I will definitely keep an eye out and see how they are going, hoping that we are winning all our games," Moeen told reporters on the eve of RCB’s clash with KXIP on Wednesday.
Asked if he preferred batting up the order for RCB, the England all-rounder said: "We tried left and right combination to make it tougher for the bowlers and fielders. ... I may prefer to come in as early as possible. I am not to worried until the team is winning and I am doing okay."
On RCB depending too much on AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, Ali said it was very difficult for a team to rely on two batsmen.
"... My job is to come and score some runs as quickly as AB and Virat and take the game away from the opposition, if one of them fails to get a start," he said.
The addition of Proteas pace legend Dale Steyn has proved to be a blessing for RCB. In the two games that Steyn has played, he has taken four wickets to change the fortunes of the franchise.
"Dale has been a huge impact. We did not take wickets in the powerplays. If you take four wickets in powerplays, most of the time you win matches. He has been a class act. The way he swings the ball is a brave thing to do. Probably that has been the missing factor, which cost us games," he remarked.
When asked if he needs to bowl more, Ali said as long as the team was winning, these things did not worry him much.
"It is a small ground here. I observed in the last match that seamers were hard to score off. I really did not get the window to bowl against KKR when Andre Russel came in. But, as long as you are winning, you really don't worry too much," he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
