Sundar lauds RCB's ability to defend

All-rounder Washington Sundar said a win against Delhi Capitals on Sunday will give Royal Challengers Bangalore a lot of confidence in their remaining matches.

“Delhi is in a very good form. They are almost (confirmed) in top four, a win against them will give us a lot of confidence, especially to win next matches. That is what we will be looking to do,” Sundar said on Saturday.

RCB have won four of their last five matches and Sundar attributed it to a shift in approach.

“We thought we will just enjoy the game, especially after the first six losses and not think too much about the results. We just wanted to do the right things again and again. That helped us in the last 3-4 matches to win the games. What stood out for RCB was how we managed to defend the last three games on trot which is very difficult for any team to do,” he said.

“If we win the next three games, we will still be on 14 points. Any team with 14 points has had a good IPL season. That is what we will be looking to do in the next three games and give ourselves to chance to qualify. If we still don’t qualify, we can’t do much.

“How we came back in tournament was really amazing. Probably there was a lot of pressure on us to win every game, especially when we began the season, but after that we told ourselves to just enjoy. In the last three games we bowled really well in the powerplay, especially in the game against CSK and KKR.”

Sundar admitted they would miss the experience and form of Moeen Ali but insisted they have players to replace him.

Meanwhile, Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer said their job is only half-done.“I think we need to win at least one more match out of the remaining three, but our aim will be to win at least two matches to make sure we are securing the spot. It is good to see that players have taken responsibility to win the matches. Currently, we are very positive and we are hoping for a victory tomorrow as well.”

“I think we have an advantage because we have been practicing here in the afternoon. We have a good sense of how this pitch and conditions.”