TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower has admitted that ‘Operation Sindoor’ — the emergency situation that led to the one-week suspension of IPL 2025 on May 9 — turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the eventual champions.RCB captain Rajat Patidar recovered from a finger injury during the break, while the team’s leading wicket-taker Josh Hazlewood returned from a shoulder injury after undergoing rehab and training in Australia.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“Even this evening while we were celebrating, a couple of guys mentioned to me that the break gave Hazlewood time to recover, and crucially, it gave Rajat time to recover with his hand,” Flower told reporters after RCB lifted their maiden IPL trophy.Who’s that IPL player?“But we still missed Tim David and Devdutt Padikkal from our initial squad. They were huge parts of our campaign.”“For those who believe in fate, I’m sure they’ll find a story to tell. There were obviously bigger things at play than RCB winning the trophy at that time — and we all recognised that. But yes, it did give us a bit of breathing space. We were a little slow off the blocks before that,” he added.
Hazlewood, who finished as RCB’s top wicket-taker this season, bagged 22 wickets in just 12 games.“Absolutely, you won’t get a better experience than this,” Hazlewood told broadcasters when asked if returning mid-season was the right decision.
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Patidar, who missed a couple of games due to injury, ended the season with 312 runs in 15 matches at a healthy strike rate of 143.77.Head coach Flower was full of praise for Rajat — not just for his batting, but for his leadership in his debut season as captain.“I think one of the most impressive things about what Rajat has done this year is that, as an inexperienced captain, he hasn’t let it affect him. I don’t think it has impacted his batting at all,” said Flower.“I’ve watched him closely as a character, and he is still the same lovely, gentle, polite Rajat Patidar that we knew last year. He hasn’t changed at all in that regard.”“Captaining RCB is a really tricky job. When I think back to how poorly I captained at his age, I’ve got tremendous respect for how he’s carried himself under such scrutiny — especially while leading some big players.”“You can’t underestimate the calmness he showed in leading a star-studded franchise. He made good decisions under immense pressure, and that deserves a lot of respect,” he added.
