Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) secured a 7-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in their last league match of IPL 2021, thanks to Srikar Bharat's last-ball six.
Chasing 165 to win, RCB needed 5 runs on the last delivery and Bharat succeeded in hitting Avesh Khan over long on for a huge six to seal the deal.
After his heroics in the chase, Bharat’s confidence is sky-high. He is motivated to win the IPL title and ensure Virat Kohli ends his RCB captaincy stint on a high.
“Definitely, winning the cup [will be great] and giving Virat bhai that title will be a cherry on the cake,” Bharat quoted as saying by Sportstar. “But just playing with him is a very big thing. He loves youngsters and rubbing shoulders with him teaches you a lot of discipline.
“He works like a machine in the gym, he’s a thorough professional. If he still does it after achieving so much, we are just walking in [to the team] and it’s great motivation.”
Apart from Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell are the other two cricket superstars in RCB’s dressing room. No wonder, there is a lot of learning opportunities for the youngsters.
“I am a keen observer of people who do good things and learn from them. So, I wouldn’t be going up to them and asking stuff. I have watched all their routines, their intent in doing things and learnt,” Bharat said.
The 28-year-old further stated that there is no star culture in the dressing room.
“There’s nothing like I have to create a platform for them. We, as a team, aim to get those mini partnerships going. It can be AB, or myself, or Virat bhai. We all are prepared to win the game [for our team] and we walk in with that purpose.”
Srikar Bharat finished with 78 not out off 52 balls against Delhi Capitals. It was his first half-century in the cash-rich league.
“These numbers don’t matter as long as you are doing well [for the team]. In fact, numbers can be limiting sometimes. I understood that over a period of time after playing a lot of domestic cricket. You have to be selfless to succeed at this level.”
(Inputs from Sportstar)
