RCB under pressure to move up, says pacer Arvind

Bengaluru, April 26 (IANS) Hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) would be under huge pressure when they take on Gujarat Lions (GL) in the Indian Premier League (IPL-10) tie here on Thursday, said their medium pacer Sreenath Arvind on Wednesday.

"Certainly, it will be a pressure game, as we have to bounce back. We have to be positive to win not only this game, but also all other games to stay in contest," admitted Arvind at a pre-match presser here.

With five points from eight games, including one point from the rain-hit abandoned tie on Tuesday against title holder Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), it's a deja vu for RCB as it was in the same situation last year when they went on to win four games on trot to enter the final but lost to SRH by eight runs here on May 29, 2016.

"We were waiting for the game to start. Unfortunately, the rain didn't stop though we were expecting to play at least for five overs," recalled Arvind after the team suffered a 82-run humiliating defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday at Kolkata, with the tournament's lowest score of 49 runs in 9.3 overs.

"We are looking forward to play positive after what happened in Kolkata. Though we have a bunch of good players, we didn't play as a unit in some games. We know that we are in pressure to get back to winning ways," reiterated the local lad.

Of the eight games, RCB played, including three away games, they won only two -- against Delhi Daredevils (DD) by 15 runs here on April 8 and against Gujarat Lions (GL) at Rajkot by 21 runs on April 18.

The home team lost five, including three away games against SRH on April 5 by 35 runs in Hyderabad, against Kings XI Punjab on April 10 by 8 wickets at Indore and against KKR on April 23 by 82 runs in Kolkata and two on the home turf against MI on April 14 by 4 wickets and RPS on April 16 by 27 runs.

"Some of the games we lost were close. But saying about wrong things does not help. We have to play as a unit and be positive to win every game if we have to make to the plays-offs as we did last year," noted Arvind.

On the home pitch, which has slowed down and has been difficult for any team to score high this season, Arvind said it (pitch) was not as good as it was for batsmen.

"Though it has become a bit slow, it is a competitive pitch for batsmen as well as bowlers," added Arvind.

Admitting that their best player Chris Gayle had not fired in all games played so far except against Gujarat at Rajkot, Arvind said the Jamaican was not in a great form as he was last year.

"It is very difficult for any batsman to be in peak form every year. It happens in cricket though he is a master batsman," reiterated Arvind.