Getting marauding Virat, other RCB batsmen out is a task: Bhuvaneshwar

Hyderabad edged Gujarat Lions by four wickets in second qualifier to set up a summit clash with Bangalore, who had beaten the same opponents in the first qualifier. 

“We will definitely strategise because I read somewhere the other day that Virat Kohli has scored 35 per cent of RCB’s runs. It’ll be a big task for us to get (Chris) Gayle, Virat (Kohli) and AB (De Villers) and later, (Shane) Watson, out. We are hoping for a good contest,” Bhuvneshwar said. 

Bhuvneshwar said losing Mustafizur Rahman on Friday was not an ideal situation for them but backed Kiwi paceman Trent Boult, who replaced the Bangladeshi pacer. 

“Mustafizur did really well but losing him in a crucial game wasn’t good for us but Boult did very well. It’s a part of the game that he went for a few runs in the second last over. But if you look at him, he has really worked hard in the nets. He knew that there might be a chance for him to play either the semifinals or finals but you can’t say he has given runs; it’s a part of the game. Losing Fizz wasn’t good for us,” he said.

Asked about Warner’s decision to bowl first on Friday, Bhuvneshwar said keeping the opponent’s strength in mind, it was the best decision to take. “We had decided in the meeting to bowl first. If you look at their (Gujarat’s) batting line-up, they have good batsmen like Finch, Raina, McCullum and Smith. They are good chasers. So we wanted to make them bat first so that we could get them out early and chase down the target,” he explained.