IPL 2024 Exclusive: Anuj Rawat's Mastery of Six-Hitting in Nets Set to Propel Rising RCB Star to Success, Claims Coach

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Anuj Rawat showcased his talent to the world with his quality knock against Chennai Super Kings in the first match of this IPL 2024 season.

With his knock of 48 off just 25 balls, the wicketkeeper-batter from Delhi helped RCB reach a decent total of 173 for six against the defending champions, despite the team having a tough start at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

The 24-year-old left-handed batter played a pivotal innings alongside experienced Dinesh Karthik and shared a solid 90-plus stand as he revived RCB with the senior Tamil Nadu cricketer. Although RCB lost the match by 6 wickets, Rawat proved why the franchise has shown faith in him for the last couple of years.

myKhel spoke exclusively to Anuj Rawat's coach Rajesh Nagar, who praised how the young Delhi cricketer played against a dominant side like CSK. "Anuj played a very mature innings that evening (against CSK). When RCB was 78-5, Dinesh Karthik and Anuj rescued the team by brilliantly constructing their innings. If you compare Anuj's innings in the last year of IPL to this one, it was very mature. I am happy that Anuj started this season on a high note."

Rajesh Nagar, who is also the coach of the 2022 ICC U-19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull, revealed that Anuj worked hard on his six-hitting abilities before the start of IPL 2024.

"Just before the start of this year's IPL, we held open nets sessions at Talent Sports Academy in Chhawla. Anuj received a lot of assistance and focused on improving his six-hitting abilities. He worked on other aspects of the game, including batting in the powerplays, batting in the death overs, etc. Anuj has significantly enhanced his game, especially his ability to hit sixes this time around," a proud Nagar added further.

Anuj mostly batted in the lower order for the RCB in last year's IPL. Rajesh wants his prodigy to bat higher up the batting order in this edition. He noted, "I think Anuj should bat higher in the batting order in IPL 2024 because he handles the innings well, even in the middle overs, and can also hit big shots in the final overs.

The more balls he faces, the better he will become. As he is a left-handed batsman, it is also an advantage for himself and the team. If he bats at number four or five, it would be highly beneficial for Anuj and, also for the RCB."

In last year's IPL, Anuj didn't perform well in the eight matches as he could only score 91 runs, with 29 being his highest score against Rajasthan Royals.

When asked about the areas Anuj worked on to improve his batting, Rajesh stated, "Our focus was mostly on how to bat in the slog overs, and in the IPL, when you get 2-3 big hits, the game moves to a different zone."

"I wanted him to have that confidence (to clear the fence more often than not) in IPL 2024, so we worked hard on that aspect by creating certain scenarios and making him perform. Now, I want him to replicate for RCB what he did in the nets. I want him to finish the tournament the way he's started," stated a proud Nagar.

The former Rajasthan Royals batsman, Anuj, had a good Syed Ali Mushtaq Trophy 2023-24 season, the domestic T20 tournament, during which he scored 206 runs in 7 matches with a strike rate of 121.89 for Delhi. The coach attributed the confidence of SMAT 2023-24, where he opened the batting for his team on some occasions, helped him a great deal.

"In this season's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Anuj played very well as he batted as an opener. Playing as both an opener and a middle-order batter in 20 overs is very difficult. Although Anuj is mentally very tough. No one can play a good knock in every T20 match; a good innings comes after 2-3 innings even to the best of the batters.

"Anuj finished the last IPL matches on a high note, and when you play in the first match of the new season like this, your morale is bound to reach a certain height. Unfortunately, RCB lost, but Anuj showed his form, which is good for RCB," Rajesh signed off.

RCB will rely on their Indian core to kickstart their IPL 2024 season positively. Following a defeat against Chennai Super Kings in their opener in Chennai, RCB will look to regroup and find comfort in the familiar surroundings of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and Anuj will be raring to go all guns blazing at the home ground, if the opportunity comes across his way. With their match against Punjab Kings on Monday (March 25), RCB will aim to capitalise on their three consecutive home games in Bengaluru.