"Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis are my go-to guys in RCB team," says Anuj Rawat | EXCLUSIVE

Anuj Rawat has been enjoying the mental challenge to bat at different positions for RCB in the IPL.

Young Anuj Rawat played nine games for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL 2023. His best innings this season came against Rajasthan Royals. He smashed 29 off just 11 balls at a strike rate of 263.64, including two sixes and three boundaries. Some of the shots he played were pure excellence & not to forget his brilliant catch to dismiss Samson. He is obviously one for the future, and the 23-year-old was bought by RCB during the 2022 Mega-auction.

Anuj Rawat played at the top of the order the same year but played as the finisher in 2023. In an exclusive interaction with KhelNow, he revealed that he enjoyed batting at both positions. "I have been playing for RCB for a couple of years now, and my roles have been different. This year, I played as a finisher. So, when you play for two years, you need to change your game and have to be mentally strong".

On which role he enjoyed more, he said, "I enjoyed both the roles. Batting in the Powerplay and even as a finisher. I practised accordingly and enjoyed doing both roles. This year, I was communicated beforehand that I will be playing as a finisher. So, I was confident in that role too, as I had practised accordingly."

When asked about how he practices his role, he said, "You need to practice a lot. The more you practice, the better you get at finishing games. As a finisher, you practice more against slower deliveries and stuff like that, because that is what we will get in the match."

Being a bit specific, he said, "I practice differently on different days. For example, some days you want to practice against Yorkers, and on some other days, you want to play the field. So, it depends on what you want to do on any given day."

Rawat also mentioned that he doesn't want to limit himself to any specific role and would be happy to do what the team needs of him. "I have been very flexible. You need to be flexible according to the needs of the team. You wherever the team requires me to play. I am more than happy to do so."

Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis are my go-to guys in RCB team: Anuj Rawat

Rawat revealed that his go-to guys in the team are Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. "Faf and Virat are my go-to players. I even talk to Maxwell and Karthik. They often give me valuable inputs on how to improve my game and how to play against specific players."

"The atmosphere was sad. We thought about what we could have done differently and thought of not repeating the same mistakes when we come back next year," Rawat said regarding the team's discussion post being knocked out of the tournament.

In seven IPL innings in 2023, Rawat scored 91 runs at an average of 30.33.