IPL 2020
Joshua Philipe could only face two deliveries in his first IPL game © Getty
Joshua Philippe has the game to play as a finalist for Royal Challengers Bangalore, if compatriot Aaron Finch is to be believed. The 23-year-old Western Australia goalie-bat, who has already won admirers in the form of Adam Gilchrist and AB de Villiers, has earned the endorsement of the Australian white-ball captain for a role in which he has little experience.
RCB opened their IPL 2020 campaign with a victory, but concerns over the team’s balance persisted with Philippe placing himself as one of four foreign players, but making him 6th place. In some respects, the management’s hands were forced by the decision to blood the team. exciting Karnataka opener Devdutt Padikkal as Finch’s opening partner. De Villiers, who was happy to keep the drills before the tournament, didn’t take the gloves against SRH, so he needed one from Parthiv Patel or Philippe to play in between.
RCB lost the services of its new high-value acquisition, Chris Morris, to secondary stress and the role of runner-up fell to Philippe, who in the name of experience is not quite fit for that role. In the Big Bash League, he played nine innings at No. 6 and racked up 130 runs with a maximum score of 30. As a starter for the Sydney Sixers last season, he finished as the BBL’s third-best running back, scoring 487 runs. in 16 innings with a strike rate of 130.
Finch, however, believes that Philippe has the talent to adapt to this new role. “Absolutely! I think he is someone who is so talented that he can play various roles,” he said before RCB’s match against KXIP. “We’ve seen how successful he can be at the top of the order in Big Bash and things like that. He’s someone who can play the whole field. He’s very talented and very skilled, so I think if he’s given enough time in each role , I think it will start to unfold wonderfully. ”
Underlining the value of adaptability, Finch said his own role in RCB XI would depend on the game situation, as well as the matchups involving Padikkal. “I think I can play whatever role is required of the team,” he said. “Dev obviously got off to a great start the other day, so my job was to try to get him back on strike and let him keep playing really good and really aggressive.
“But there will be some days where that role is reversed and I’m going to be a bit of a flyer and then our partnership becomes important again. I think my game has probably evolved by playing more and more T20 cricket. Roles and you understand a little bit more about the roles. game scenarios Hopefully I can contribute a lot for Bangalore.
“I think the dew will play a big role in the tournament. Probably the last three games and the game in Sharjah last night, there was probably more dew than expected from us. So, I think, as the games go on and a lot of games go on. [are] played on the same terrains over and over again, the terrains will slow down and the dew will become an even more important factor. But you still have to play the best you can and you can’t use that as an excuse. If you hit slow ground first, you have to adapt to that and come up with plans and processes that give you every opportunity to be successful in all conditions. ”
© Cricbuzz
