Josh Hazlewood Rips Into RCB After Third Home Loss in a Row to PBKS

Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had no hesitation about giving his own team short shrift while condemning his side after their third home loss on the trot. The Royal Challengers lost to Punjab Kings by five wickets in a 14-over-per-side game on Friday evening, following their home losses in their last two games against Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals.

During a post-match change-room press conference, Hazlewood said that the performance of the team was affected by an unpredictable pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the failure of the batsmen to switch and adjust from their earlier matches. He compared this to how the bounce of the pitch, something that is traditionally a factor in grounds like Chinnaswamy, had been different on this occasion and made conditions even harder to gauge for the players. Hazlewood admitted the side had been too slow in altering their game plan after they had learned lessons from the initial two losses.

"It's not a traditional Chinnaswamy wicket," Hazlewood insisted. "The bounce always was there, but in the earlier years it used to be more consistent." This inconsistency, he believed, made the abysmal game of the team possible. He also mentioned that the Royal Challengers were struggling especially in the first six to eight overs of the match, which kept them behind from the beginning.

RCB mentor Dinesh Karthik was also outraged with the pitch after their defeat to Delhi Capitals and stated he would have words with the local curator. Hazlewood concurred with Karthik and added that one of the main reasons for the defeat was that there was no dominant power play by the batsmen. Hazlewood believed that the team was not using the learning they had gained from the previous games and further suggested that they should be more intense during the first few overs so that they can set the tone for the remaining innings.

Although he was dismayed by the result, Hazlewood was optimistic about future performances of RCB. He was sure that the team would pull itself together and get its winning spree back. "We'll analyze this game very closely once we return to Bangalore," he stated. "We will examine the details at close quarters and work on ideas of how to do better and learn from this experience."

Hazlewood felt the bowling attack got better from what they were doing in their previous games. While saying that the team wasn't getting better at a rate good enough, he said that they were in the right direction. He also cautioned the RCB batsmen with some suggestions and suggested they look back before they played the big shots. "Perhaps it's a case of pulling back a bit and giving yourself more time," Hazlewood described. "We’ve seen in the earlier games that when a batter on the opposing team goes big, they often form a partnership and finish strong."

Especially, Hazlewood pointed out that if the top six or seven batsmen can play well through for the entire 20 overs, then it would greatly increase RCB's chances of winning. "If we could get our top order to bat well for the entire 20 overs, that will really make us win," he further stated.

Meanwhile, Punjab Kings spinner Harpreet Brar also saw his fair share of the sun. Brar was extravagant in praise for PBKS middle-order batter Nehal Wadhera on his nerveless and composed run-chasing. Wadhera's 33 off 19 balls not out was a result that pushed PBKS to victory. PBKS were at four for 53 in a difficult situation at one point, but Wadhera's batting kept the ship afloat and gave the win.