Bangalore’s journey in the Indian T20 League has been a rocky one. Their batting looked solid in the first match but their bowling failed them in the first match against Punjab. While in the second match their bowling hit rhythm but the batting looked shaky while chasing a moderate total of 129 runs against Kolkata.
After failing to defend a high total in the first match, Bangalore registered their first win of the season against Kolkata. The director of cricket operations of Bangalore Mike Hesson has developed a new strategy for the young players to deal with the pressure situations in matches.
During a conversation on Bangalore Bold Diaries, Mike Hesson said – “When the game is on the line, whether we are batting or bowling, it’s about how we deal with the game under pressure — the last 5 overs. So, a lot of what we did all of the bowlers sitting with the captain, going through the fieldsets in terms of different options.â€
“Obviously, no matter what option you have, what field you have, you have to have at least three options in terms of deliveries you can bowl. And then when you’re under pressure, how are you going to get out of that — whether you’re gonna split the over up, maybe change the field?â€- Hesson further added.
In the last match, Bangalore put themselves under pressure while chasing a total of 129 runs. Bangalore bowled out Kolkata for 128 runs and made a mess of a start.  However, they pulled themselves out of the pressure situation courtesy of some brilliant cameos by Shabaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik, and Harsha Patel. The team’s performance under pressure was commendable but a bit of positive intent earlier in the innings would have never got them in trouble. So, the new thinking on part of Mike Hesson seems ideal to prevent the team from getting into fix further in the tournament.