<p>Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower called his team’s long-awaited title triumph last season the proudest moment, but said all that glory is in the past now and his men can’t wait to defend the crown this year.</p>.<p>“I think when we go into these jobs and we represent our owners and our franchise and we represent each other, that always carries a responsibility and an accountability about how we conduct ourselves. But moving into this IPL, I think it’s just tremendously exciting. Of course, we are the holders from last year, but this is a brand new year and we are all looking forward to this challenge,” said the Zimbabwean at the pre-match press conference at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.</p>.<p>“One of the truths in life is that change is always there. It’s always happening. And we are a different group, different personnel, the guys are all a year older. Our opponents have changed and evolved in certain ways. Conditions might be very different. We haven’t played in Chinnaswamy for a long time. We haven’t played games here for many months. So the square might be a little bit different. And so the challenge of this IPL is completely different from the last one, and we are going to enjoy this challenge.”</p>.<p>Although ace fast bowler Josh Hazlewood linked up with the squad on Thursday, Flower said the Australian is still not close to match fitness and expressed confidence in the Indian domestic trio of Mangesh Yadav, Rasikh Dar and Abhinandan Singh. </p>.<p>“So Hazlewood did arrive yesterday, he’s looking fit. I did comment to him that he looks even younger than I remember him, so he’s enjoyed some good downtime, but he’s worked hard to get himself back up to full fitness. He won’t be ready for tomorrow, he’s just got off the plane, but we’ll be monitoring his fitness very closely and looking forward to him making his entrance into the IPL.”</p>.<p>“Obviously, Yash (Dayal) is not with us this year, unfortunately, so we have Mangesh and Abhinandan competing for a place. I’m not going to tell you now who’s playing tomorrow, but we’re happy with recruiting Mangesh, a left-arm seamer, to replace Yash Dayal. We’re also happy with Abhinandan’s progress, he’s bowled a lot more in matches just recently, played in the recent DYP (DY Patil) competition, and did really well. And I think Rasik is a better bowler than he was last year, he’s obviously been working very hard himself, and he shows a lot of qualities that could stand him in really good shape if he gets the chance in this tournament.”</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower called his team’s long-awaited title triumph last season the proudest moment, but said all that glory is in the past now and his men can’t wait to defend the crown this year.</p>.<p>“I think when we go into these jobs and we represent our owners and our franchise and we represent each other, that always carries a responsibility and an accountability about how we conduct ourselves. But moving into this IPL, I think it’s just tremendously exciting. Of course, we are the holders from last year, but this is a brand new year and we are all looking forward to this challenge,” said the Zimbabwean at the pre-match press conference at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.</p>.<p>“One of the truths in life is that change is always there. It’s always happening. And we are a different group, different personnel, the guys are all a year older. Our opponents have changed and evolved in certain ways. Conditions might be very different. We haven’t played in Chinnaswamy for a long time. We haven’t played games here for many months. So the square might be a little bit different. And so the challenge of this IPL is completely different from the last one, and we are going to enjoy this challenge.”</p>.<p>Although ace fast bowler Josh Hazlewood linked up with the squad on Thursday, Flower said the Australian is still not close to match fitness and expressed confidence in the Indian domestic trio of Mangesh Yadav, Rasikh Dar and Abhinandan Singh. </p>.<p>“So Hazlewood did arrive yesterday, he’s looking fit. I did comment to him that he looks even younger than I remember him, so he’s enjoyed some good downtime, but he’s worked hard to get himself back up to full fitness. He won’t be ready for tomorrow, he’s just got off the plane, but we’ll be monitoring his fitness very closely and looking forward to him making his entrance into the IPL.”</p>.<p>“Obviously, Yash (Dayal) is not with us this year, unfortunately, so we have Mangesh and Abhinandan competing for a place. I’m not going to tell you now who’s playing tomorrow, but we’re happy with recruiting Mangesh, a left-arm seamer, to replace Yash Dayal. We’re also happy with Abhinandan’s progress, he’s bowled a lot more in matches just recently, played in the recent DYP (DY Patil) competition, and did really well. And I think Rasik is a better bowler than he was last year, he’s obviously been working very hard himself, and he shows a lot of qualities that could stand him in really good shape if he gets the chance in this tournament.”</p>