RCB's 'hunter mindset' leaves no room for complacency: Mo Bobat

Bengaluru: After spending 17 years with hope and belief that the IPL trophy would one day make its way to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally realised their long-awaited dream of winning the IPL last season.

On that very night, RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, urged his players to get addicted to winning during the celebrations in the dressing room. 

Fast forward 12 months (well, almost), RCB are top of the league again, and were the first team to punch their playoffs ticket this season. 

Bobat credited their dominating campaign to a “hunter mindset” which has helped the defending champions prevent complacency from creeping in. 

“As it was such a long wait for us to win that first title, I didn't want it to feel like we had already climbed our Everest," Bobat told a select media at RCB Innovation Lab’s Indian Sports Summit.  

“We wanted to just keep climbing, keep hunting. We've talked about that language internally, just trying to stay in that hunter mindset. Sport is quite unforgiving. You win a trophy, and very quickly, people move on, and the world moves on."

Bobat, who took up a full-time role after serving RCB on a consultancy basis, said that the cultural shift was more in the mind than in the middle. 

"Most of it is just that psychological shift, just making sure that people are all aligned and motivated to go through and achieve the next thing.

“You have to find the right balance between enjoying and being proud of what you have managed to achieve, but also shift people's attention towards what's the next target or goal. The same will be true this season, regardless of how the season pans out. Obviously, we're keen to go all the way," he said.

The Englishman also highlighted that RCB, in their title-winning season, managed to change the thought process that IPL is won only when a franchise is a dominant force at home. 

“When I got here, I realised that it had been difficult for us to have a home advantage. I heard a lot of them saying if you are not dominant at home, you won’t win the IPL. A part of me thought let us win all away games. And last year, we were really good. To some degree, it did challenge the thought process of being good at home and away games aren’t as important.”

“Ultimately, you have to play 14 games and probably win nine or 10.  I think we kind of taught ourselves that last year. You've got to be humble enough to know that you're not doing well," he explained. 

Bobat also admitted that the man-management of the diverse nature of players in the IPL was “hard” but also one of the most “exciting” challenges that the tournament offers. 

“You could have a 19-year-old who has been signed on his first IPL contract, and you could have an Indian player in their mid-thirties. The IPL also has a slightly distorted financial context, as different players earn (different amount).  To get all of those people lined up to the same motive and in the same direction is not easy, but that's one of the really exciting challenges.”

Patidar's evolution

Skipper Rajat Patidar, who took over from South Africa legend Faf du Plessis, has been constantly evolving while wearing the captaincy hat and knows when to block out unnecessary noise, according to Bobat. 

“Rajat has evolved as a captain, and he's certainly developing his own understanding of how he wants the team to line up. He's got a stronger sense of how he wants the team to play. He has been quite good at blocking out the noise. And I think if you're going to be captain of RCB, you have to be able to withstand quite a lot of noise.”