"We've got three guys in the top nine run scorers in the competition" - Mike Hesson upbeat about RCB's batting ahead of SRH clash

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) director of cricket operations Mike Hesson believes that the RCB batters are peaking at the right time ahead of their crucial encounter against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). The all-important clash is scheduled to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 18.

RCB are currently in fifth position on the points table with 12 points in as many games and will likely have to win their two remaining matches to qualify for the playoffs.

Ahead of the crunch game against SRH, Hesson sounded optimistic about the team's batting when speaking to the franchise's YoutTube channel. He said:

"Faf and Virat have assessed conditions beautifully at the top and we've played accordingly. Come crunch time you want more players peaking at the same time. We've got three guys in the top nine run-scorers in the competition, we've got Lomror and Anuj just starting to hit form at the right time and play some really impactful innings for us, Dk couple of games ago looked like he was starting to get back to his best before he fell ill."

RCB have three batters in Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell, all of whom are in the top 15 of the leading run-scorers list.

Du Plessis is the current Orange Cap holder with 631 runs in 12 innings at an average of 57.36 and a strike rate of 154.27, while Kohli is sixth and Maxwell is 13th with 438 and 384 runs, respectively.

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"It's nice that we've got a number of different guys that contribute" - Mike Hesson on the RCB bowling unit

Mike Hesson also felt that the RCB bowling attack has several bowlers in good form, having made key contributions during different stages of the tournament.

He singled out Mohammed Siraj for his exceptional spell in their previous game against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) after a couple of quiet games.

Hesson also felt that the pair that came in for the last game, Michael Bracewell and Wayne Parnell, put their hand up and made it count in the team's resounding 112-run victory against the Royals.

Ahead of the SRH clash, Hesson spoke about managing the bowlers based on their fitness and the playing conditions. He said:

"From a bowling point of view, Siraj probably had one or two quite games but that last game he was exceptional with the new ball and set the tone, fact that we've reintroduced a couple of new guys and obviously they did well in Parnell and Bracewell, and Karan Sharma every time he gets an opportunity he does really well for us."

"It's nice that we've got a number of different guys that contribute. We'll look at these conditions and there's always niggles at this time of the year so make sure we put a fit and firing side on the park to take SRH," he added.

Mohammed Siraj is the only RCB bowler to feature in the top 10 leading wicket-takers list, with 16 scalps at an average of 20.37 and a strike rate of 7.76 runs per over.

After the SRH clash, RCB will play their final game of the league stages against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Bangalore on Sunday, May 21.