"Hasaranga will have a bigger role to play" - Mike Hesson on RCB spinner's role on used pitches in latter half of IPL 2023 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) director of cricket Mike Hesson feels that Wanindu Hasaranga will have a huge role to play in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) on slow wickets.

The Sri Lankan spinner, who missed a couple of matches in the beginning due to national duty, has been among the wickets recently. He put in his best performance of the season in RCB's 21-run loss at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday, April 26. The 25-year-old finished with figures of 2-24 in a high-scoring encounter at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

With RCB playing the majority of their matches at home, Hasaranga has had to adapt to the batting-friendly Chinnaswamy with short boundaries. However, with RCB slated to play five away matches on the bounce, coupled with the fact that the pitches are expected to slow down, Hasaranga is bound to be in the game in terms of picking up wickets.

Praising Hasaranga's performance with the ball against KKR, which yielded the wickets of Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer, Hesson said:

"Hasaranga will have a bigger role to play as the tournament progresses. I mean he has got better and better, I thought he was exceptional in the last game. The fact that he bowled so well there and then here in a night game against a side who looked to attack the spinners, was outstanding."

Hasaranga has picked up six wickets in five IPL 2023 matches at an economy rate of nine.

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"We will have to adapt to the conditions really well" - Sanjay Bangar on RCB's grueling five-game away run

While the 2023 edition of the IPL has just reached its midway mark, RCB have already played six out of their seven home matches. The team will not play five away matches in a row before returning to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium for their final league-stage game on May 18.

Noting that adaptability will be key in the upcoming set of away matches, RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar said:

"We will have to adapt to the conditions really well because so far our itinerary was in such a way that we were mostly at our home ground and we knew the conditions really well. What is good that there is enough gap between games."

He continued:

"It is also a big plus in the sense that our bowlers, who have done really well at the Chinnaswamy, will be in the game more. From that perspective, it really augurs well."

RCB's away leg begins with a trip to the Ekana Stadium to face the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday, May 1.