File photo of Gautam Gambhir.© BCCI

Abhishek Sharma was at his best in second T20I against Zimbabwe.© AFP

Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower on Thursday labelled the pitch for the T20 World Cup semifinal in Trindidad as ‘dangerous’ after Afghanistan suffered a nine-wicket defeat to South Africa. On a tough pitch with variable bounce and exaggerated seam movement, Afghanistan folded for a mere 56 in 11.5 overs for their lowest T20I total as South Africa made their first-ever World Cup final. While Flower backed Afghanistan’s decision to bat after winning the toss, he said it was impossible for the batters to gauge the bounce off the surface.

“You can’t blame Afghanistan for doing what they did at the toss. They had such an excellent record batting first and then defending with a very good varied attack of their own,” Flower told ESPNCricinfo.

“But batting first was a really tough ask. You didn’t know what a good score would be and they were just blown away.” “A couple of balls flew off a length around, sort of shoulder, neck, chin height off the South African quicks and one of them flew over Quinton de Kock — the ‘keeper’s head and gloves for four byes. I was pleased that no one got hurt,” Flower said.

Flower, who coaches Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, said visuals of the pitch revealed the cracks and blocks which produced a ‘wild variance in bounce’.

“You saw some interesting visual shots from above the square and a couple of the commentators referenced this being a brand new pitch. Perhaps, they could have used a pitch that had been used previously,” he said.

“Those shots showed that crazy paving-type effect and that those blocks and the cracks produced this wild variance in bounce. As a batter, you’re trying to predict where the ball is going to be. You want to meet it somewhere near the middle of the bat, at least.” “(But) on this pitch, it was almost impossible to do that on any consistent basis at all. I thought it was actually a little bit dangerous,” said the former England head coach.

Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody said batting on that pitch at the Brian Lara Stadium was ‘a very difficult challenge to combat’.

“I don’t think you’d want to see it in any game, to be honest with you. You want a fair contest between bat and ball and I’m not advocating that we need to have surfaces that you need 200 plus runs,” he said.

“But you need consistent bounce — that is the most important thing — (and) any batter would hold their hands up and say, that is the most important thing.” “If you’ve got one ball that’s hitting the toe of your bat or one that you feel like you’re going to punch with your gloves at the same length, that is a very difficult challenge to combat,” he added.

Moody observed presence of thick grass near the cracks on the pitch led to invariable bounce on the surface.

“You see, this sort of crazy paving, if I could put it that way, where a lot of dense grass was gathered around those cracks — you could just tell that was the thing that promoted the inconsistency of bounce,” he said.

“It’ll be something that they’ll reflect on, if not reflecting on already and thinking, well, we’ve got this wrong,” added Moody. 

Following his side’s loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the eliminator, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower said that he has not applied for the position of Indian head coach. Flower’s statement comes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited the applications for position of men’s national team head coach earlier this month, with the tenure starting from July 1 this year and concluding on December 31, 2027, which will the year when the next 50-over Cricket World Cup will take place.

“I have not applied and I would not be applying for the job,” Flower said during the post-match press conference. He said that franchise cricket will continue to be his priority.

“I am happy with my involvement in the franchise league at the moment. I am really enjoying it. It is fascinating stuff and I have worked with some amazing organisations and I am happy with that at the moment,” he said.

Flower also opened up on wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik’s future as a player.

Before the start of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), ESPNCricinfo had reported that Karthik will be playing his final season this time around and it was hinted at throughout the season. Though Karthik has not announced his retirement from the IPL officially, Karthik’s tearful hug with Virat Kohli following the loss and a lap of honour by RCB players suggested that this could indeed be his last season of the cash-rich league.

Karthik is the 10th-highest run-getter in the IPL of all time, with 4,842 runs at an average of 26.31 and a strike rate of 135.42 in 257 matches. He has scored 22 half-centuries, with the best score of 97*. He has won an IPL trophy with Mumbai Indians (MI) back in 2013.

For RCB in 60 matches, Karthik has scored 937 runs at an average of 24.65 in 53 innings, at a strike rate of 162.95 and three half-centuries. His best score is 83. During this season, he scored 326 runs in 13 innings at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 187.35, with two half-centuries and best score of 83.

Speaking about Karthik, Flower said that he had not played a lot of cricket leading to the tournament, but his contributions, batting-wise and attitude-wise have been special. He also hinted that the veteran could venture into coaching, citing his liking for coaching and helping other players. Flower also said Karthik might play “a few tournaments” before retiring.

“He had not played a lot of cricket, leading into the tournament. What he has done for us — runs-wise, attitude-wise — has been really special. I respect him for that. He is going to be super successful in whatever he goes on to. He is a brilliant commentator already. He quite likes the idea of coaching as well — helping and working with other people which I am not surprised about. He will be a great success when he does that as well. I also think he might play a few more little tournaments along the way,” said Flower.

Coming to the match, RR won the toss and elected to bowl first. Almost every RCB batter got a start, but they could not convert them into a big knock. Rajat Patidar (34 in 22 balls, with two fours and two sixes), Virat Kohli (33 in 24 balls, with three fours and a six) and Mahipal Lomror (32 in 17 balls, with two fours and two sixes) emerged as top-scorers, taking RCB to 172/8 in their 20 overs.

Avesh Khan (3/44) was the top bowler for RR. Ravichandran Ashwin (2/19) and Trent Boult (1/16) also did a fine job putting brakes on the RCB run rate.

In the run-chase, the Royals’ got off to a fine start, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (45 in 30 balls, with eight fours) and Tom Kohler Cadmore (20 in 15 balls, with four boundaries) putting on a 46-run stand. From then on, RCB bowlers applied some pressure on Rajasthan, restricting the run-flow and getting some wickets. RR was restricted to 112/4 in 13.1 overs. However, Riyan Parag (36 in 26 balls, with two fours and two sixes) held one end before he was dismissed while Shimron Hetmyer (26 in 14 balls, with three fours and a six) and Rovman Powell (16* in eight balls, with two fours and a six) attacked RCB in the last few overs to get a four-wicket win with an over left.

Mohammed Siraj (2/33) was the top bowler for RCB.

Ashwin took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Now, RR will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in qualifier two on May 24 in Chennai to decide who plays Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final on May 26.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru openers Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli have been credited for team’s resurgence in the Indian Premier League 2024.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Despite crashing out of the tournament following a four-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator here on Wednesday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru coach Andy Flower praised skipper Faf du Plessis and star player Virat Kohli for the side’s remarkable comeback from the brink of elimination to even reach the Playoffs.

RCB, which had just one win from the first eight outings, turned things around by winning its last six league matches to qualify for the last-four stage.

“I think our guys have fought brilliantly over the last 10 weeks to come back from our first half of the tournament,” said Flower. “I certainly would pay tribute to Faf du Plessis for his captaincy and Faf and Virat (Kohli) for how they have led from the front as role models and professional sports people. They have been great role models for everyone else, and the rest of the boys fought hard to get us back into the tournament.”

Looking to the future, Flower said that the team must bolster its squad with players with specific skill sets, especially to master its home conditions.

Skilful bowlers needed

“I do think the Chinnaswamy (Stadium) has some particular qualities that we need to be able to exploit. You certainly need highly skilful bowlers at Chinnaswamy.

“Simply put, pace is not going to be the answer there. You need skilful, intelligent bowlers and people that can bowl to really specific plans at Chinnaswamy,” the 56-year-old explained.

“And we have all seen how the power game has affected T20 cricket recently. So on the batting front, you certainly need to recruit batsmen with that sort of power to keep up that tempo,” added the former Zimbabwe skipper.

Andy Flower is currently the head coach of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K

Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower has no plans of throwing his hat in the ring for the India coach’s job, the former Zimbabwe skipper confirmed after his team’s exit from the IPL play-offs.

Rahul Dravid won’t be continuing after the T20 World Cup and BCCI has invited fresh applications with May 27 being the deadline.

“I haven’t applied. I won’t be applying. I am happy with my involvement in the franchise game at the moment,” the 56-year Flower said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Gautam Gambhir is believed to have been sounded out but neither the former India opener nor the BCCI brass have confirmed the development.

Flower, who was a successful red-ball coach for England, had guided the Alastair Cook-led team to a Test series win in India back in 2012.

Flower had earlier coached Lucknow Super Giants and is also part of various other franchises across the globe. he said 10 months a year for a national team isn’t something that he is considering at this point.

“It’s fascinating stuff and I’m working with some amazing organisations so I’m really happy with that at the moment,” he said.