RCB leadership reflects on championship success, culture shift and road ahead

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 2 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Director of Cricket Mo Bobat, CEO Rajesh Menon and Head Coach Andy Flower shared candid insights on the RCB Podcast, reflecting on the franchise's championship journey, leadership decisions and the mindset driving the team forward.
Speaking on the team's success, Mo Bobat said, "I think first and foremost it's important to give credit to the players. In our roles, you're only as good as your players. So if we're a championship-winning team, it's because we've got championship-winning players. So I'd probably always start there. They deserve the most amount of credit. They're the guys who take the field. They deal with the weight of the shirt and the pressure and expectation. They do incredible things in front of thousands of people. Thankfully, we're hidden from that. So, they deserve the most credit."
Reflecting on the importance of environment and process within the franchise, Rajesh Menon said, "A culture and environment is critical. Talent is there, but talent can blossom only if the culture is good and the environment is good. When I came in, I looked back and understood, saying we need to change. We need to bring the process in. We need to bring in a culture which is completely different from what it was."
Speaking about Virat Kohli's stature within the franchise, Bobat said, "Virat Kohli obviously, I think he'll forever be the icon and the hero of this team. I don't think that's going to go away, and he deserves that. His track record is incredible. I remember at one point last season seeing his stats when he got to however many runs it was - close to 9000 runs - 18 years wearing just one shirt. That's 500 runs a season. It's actually ridiculous. For seven years or something like that, some players would be happy with a 500-run season. He averages 500 runs a season for 18 years. It's actually ridiculous. So, you can't ignore that."
Explaining the responsibility of supporting a player of his stature, Bobat added, "But the best thing Andy and I can do for him is give him a championship-winning team. And he's certainly at the stage of that career where he wants to keep winning things. So it didn't take much buy-in from someone like him. He wants good players around him because he wants to win. He's a winner."
Detailing the thought process behind the leadership call, Mo Bobat said, "We spent a lot of time thinking about that captaincy decision. I don't mind saying that in my career, there aren't that many decisions that I've thought about as long and as deeply as that one. And thinking started in the season before. We were very blessed to have someone like Faf as our captain. Everybody knows what a champion person Faf is. And he was still a player doing the business at that stage as well. We could have easily just rolled him over and continued with Faf, having built a strong connection, relationship and trust with him. But sport is pretty ruthless. You've got to look at the reality of his age and stage. And again, I mentioned earlier, the big auction gave us a chance to do a bit of a reset. We felt like an Indian captain was really important. It's an Indian competition, so having an Indian captain I think is really important."
Discussing the challenges of momentum following a three-week pause, Mo Bobat said, "We went three weeks without playing. So actually that was the hardest bit. We had quite a lot of momentum and were playing good cricket, psychologically in a really good place. And then we went three weeks without playing. It was like doing pre-season again. So we were a bit rusty that first game back. That was probably my biggest concern. I didn't want it to get postponed for months. I was quite keen for us to get the competition done because I had a feeling that we were in a good place as a team. But even that proved quite challenging. We weren't quite at our best in that first game back. And we played SRH, who had played another game. So they had their warm-up game back, and we didn't. So resuming was quite tricky."
Sharing his philosophy on high-stakes matches, Andy Flower said, "I am not one of those people who subscribes to the phrase, 'it's just another game' when it comes to a final. I prefer to celebrate the fact that we're there in a final. That is why we train so hard. And why we put in so much thought and energy and sweat and heartache into either decision-making or training. So I think embracing the reality of that and celebrating the fact that we're in the final and that it's not just another game -- I prefer that."
Detailing conversations around succession planning and responsibility, Mo Bobat said, "Andy and I met him in London not long after the 2024 season and talked about that. He's always ready to step forward and lead. He doesn't need a second invitation. But we spoke at that stage about how this decision is not just about us three as people. It's about RCB more broadly as a franchise. Its leadership may be even beyond us. We might not be here, and Rajat might be continuing as captain. So it's a moment in time where we have to take that responsibility quite seriously. The easy thing would have been to say, 'Virat, do you mind filling in and doing captaincy?' But then you're just kicking a decision down the road. At some point, we can't be dependent on Virat all the time. Virat's a bright guy. He got it really quickly. He said, 'Let's think about some of these other individuals. But if you need someone, then obviously I can do it.'"
Reflecting on the presence of former RCB greats at the final, Mo Bobat said, "I really liked seeing the likes of AB and Chris Gayle there for the final because it was authentically us saying to the boys, 'These are the boys that came before you.' They're enjoying your success just as much as they would have enjoyed their own success. And this is what you're part of. That moment was a real embodiment of what we've tried to do -- recognise what's come before, have the responsibility of handing it on to other people. That was it in action."
Looking ahead to the next season, Mo Bobat concluded, "We're not defending champions. We're not defending anything. We might be current champions, but I don't want us to have a mindset of defending anything. We're attacking. We're chasing something else. We're chasing back-to-back wins. (ANI)