'Team told me to be ready for finisher role' - Mahipal Lomror embraces opportunity given by RCB Management

Mahipal Lomror played his role of finisher as an impact player to perfection, forming a match-winning partnership with Dinesh Karthik in RCB’s first home game of the ongoing IPL season. Lomror revealed that he had been told the night before the game by the team management that he would be utilized as a finisher if RCB were chasing, and he had prepared accordingly.

“Yeah, this is what the team management wants me to prepare about for this role, and they have communicated really well about this, and they are very clear because we have a really good, strong batting line-up. So that's the only place where they can shuffle and use me. They are very clear about it from the very first day, and I'm also preparing for the same,” Mahipal said after striking an unbeaten 17 off just 8 deliveries in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s four-wicket win over the Punjab team.

Talking further about his role as an impact player, Mahipal said, “This impact player rule is such that you have to be ready, and you can get a call at any time to go in and as the name says you have to show that, and you have to make an impact on the game. So yeah we were ready, and the management discussed about it last night that ‘if we are chasing we might use you down the order. So be prepared for that.’ So mentally I was prepared and yeah that worked.”

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Walking in at 130 for 6 in the 17th over in the chase of 177, Mahipal flicked his first ball for four. In the next over, he struck Arshdeep Singh for a massive six-over long-on. Explaining how he prepares for his role to repay the faith of the RCB management, Mahipal said that he focuses on hitting in the nets so that he can hit boundaries as soon as he comes into bat in a game. 

“Preparation-wise, the role I used to do in the last few years gave me more balls to bat. But now as an impact sub or low down the order, there's not going to be many balls to play. So my preparations are such that whenever I'm going into nets or whenever I'm training, I just try and hit. I try and hit boundaries from the very first ball and from the word go. So yeah, I'm trying to prepare like that,” Lomror remarked.

Batting with Dinesh Karthik makes things really easy: Lomror

The pair of Karthik and Mahipal added 48 runs in just 18 deliveries as RCB reached the target with 4 balls to spare. Talking about the experience of batting with the senior pro, Mahipal said his chats with Karthik in the middle helped him stay focused.

“I think batting with him makes things really easy for us because he is an experienced guy, and he has like 15–17 years of experience in the IPL. And he has been doing that role for such a long period of time now, and he has executed his plans really well,” Mahipal said.

“He was just telling me to stay calm and just focus on the next ball and focus on the job in hand, not to get over-excited or not to get too aggressive, just focus on the ball and that kind of small talks always helps. And yeah, that's the experience he brings to the team, and he's doing that job of a finisher really well,” he concluded.

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RCB will play their next match on Friday, 29 March at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.