Despite Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) smoothly making it to the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) Playoffs, head coach Andy Flower is not satisfied with the intense schedule that his team is going to start with their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)on Friday, May 23. For the unversed, RCB qualified for the playoffs on account of sharing a point each due to rain playing spoilsport in their game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 17.
To be fair with Flower, RCB last had a full-fledged game on May 03. Since that match, the IPL has seen a lot of ups and downs, with the league also being suspended for one week due to cross-border India-Pakistan tensions. RCB, whose last two games were scheduled to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, will now be played at a neutral venue due to Yellow Alert in the city.
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Andy Flower questions IPL 2025 schedule as RCB barely gets time for preparation
Currently, RCB is placed second on the points table, with 17 points. If they manage to win their remaining games, then they are guaranteed of the top two spot in IPL 2025 Points Table. If that scenario comes true then RCB will have to travel to Mullanpur for Qualifier 1 on May 29. This means they will only have two days to prepare for the vital contest.
"That's not your ideal lead-in to a qualifying game. We'll finish late, get to bed quite late, then travel 28th and play 29th but that's the situation in front of us. The best way is for everyone to take in the reality of that, deal with it, and we'll be ready for that game," Flower said (Via India TV).
As per the original schedule, RCB was supposed to play SRH in Bengaluru. But due to heavy rains predicted in next two days, the BCCI and IPL Governing Council decided to alter the venue for RCB vs SRH clash.
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"We're disappointed not to be playing tomorrow's game in Bangalore, but we've had to roll with that. We trained in Bangalore yesterday around lunchtime, flew here, have a training session tonight [Thursday] and we'll be ready to go. The boys have worked really well over the entire season, in the build-up to the first match. They've played some superb cricket throughout the season. Yes, we've had a little break now, but for a couple of our players, that [break] has been a healthy thing," he added.
