IPL 2023: Tom Moody Unhappy With RCB’s Under Utilisation of Wanindu Hasaranga

RCB’s campaign this year ended earlier than expected. There were several reasons for the same including injuries, bad form, and poor handling of the players. The Bangalore-based franchise lacked a good lower middle-order batter and a good spinner that could provide a breakthrough in the middle. Wanindu Hasaranga had the ability to perform the tasks, only if RCB had managed him well. Former SRH coach Tom Moody criticized the team management for not working well with Wanindu Hasaranga.

The Sri Lankan spin all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga joined the side a little late after wrapping up his duties for his national team. Even after joining the camp, during the middle of the tournament, the management looked clueless picking up the batting order. This was one of the reasons why RCB on numerous occasions were 15-20 runs short. Tom Moody emphasized that Wanindu Hasaranga batted very low in Bangalore’s batting order. He underlined that the leg spinner has performed admirably as a batsman for Sri Lanka and that management could have utilized him similarly.

Tom Moody explains RCB should have used Wanindu Hasaranga better

“The one resource I felt they didn’t use that they should have looked at was [Wanindu] Hasaranga, the batter. It may have been a way for him to get into the tournament more as an all-rounder. He has done it for Sri Lanka, and they could have used him as an impact player further up the order. He was drifting down at eight and nine most often,” Tom Moody said. Wanindu Hasaranga was picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the mega auctions, for a price of INR 10.75 crore. The spinner in 16 games last year picked up 26 wickets in 16 games. However, this year he was only given 8 games picking only 9 wickets.

In addition to speaking about Wanindu Hasaranga, Tom Moody also praised Mohammad Siraj. “Mohammed Siraj was brilliant, particularly in those powerplay overs. He just dominated in that, certainly the first three-quarters of the tournament, where he took at least one or two wickets in those powerplay overs. He had a tournament to remember,” he said. Moody concluded by saying that in the upcoming season, RCB will have to learn from their mistakes and have to make a call about Harshal Patel.