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IPL 2016: Batting-heavy RCB's main coaches are former international bowlers

A look at the RCB think-tank will reveal that it is bowling-heavy. Former New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is their head coach while ex-South Africa pacer Allan Donald is the bowling coach.

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The batting line-up of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians' next opponent at home on Wednesday, is something that every other T20 franchise would dream of. It is another matter that Chris Gayle has not started to fire this IPL after scores of 1 and 0 in RCB's first two matches this season.

Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, the man who is taking batting to newer levels with every outing, at the top of the order and followed by 'Mr 360' AB de Villiers and Shane Watson will only send shivers down the opponents' spine. By the time Sarfaraz Khan comes at No. 5, the team, as has shown in the first two games, has already plenty on the board and has very few deliveries left.

Such is the plethora of batting minds in the Royal Challengers batting line-up that the presence of their batting coach Trent Woodhill from Australia is hardly noticed.

A look at the RCB think-tank will reveal that it is bowling-heavy. Former New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is their head coach while ex-South Africa pacer Allan Donald is the bowling coach. Former India and Tamil Nadu medium-pacer and India's bowling coach until the recent World T20, Bharat Arun, is their assistant coach. That is a combined total of 684 international appearances and 1,312 wickets at the helm of RCB.

Click here for the full coverage of the IPL 2016, including commentary, fixtures, scorecards and more.

Only Arun has a higher batting average among the three in first-class cricket – 30.59 – while Vettori's is 29.62 and Donald's is 12.05. There is no doubting Vettori's batting credentials as he has six Test centuries.

On the other hand, RCB's batting and fielding coach Woodhill, 44, has not played international cricket. In fact, he has not played even first-class cricket but the experience gained from playing league cricket in England has helped him become batting coach of New Zealand and Pakistan in the past. There were questions asked by Pakistan greats like 'Who is Woodhill?' 'He does not even have a Wikipedia page', etc. when he was named Pakistan batting coach in 2013. Woodhill has also worked with Delhi Daredevils and Big Bash League team Melbourne Stars while also fine-tuning David Warner's batting skills as a personal batting coach.

In a cash-rich league where teams have high-profile coaches, Woodhill stands out. He falls in the category of New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson and South Africa national team coach Russell Domingo as the ones without any first-class cap but efficient man-management skills to get the job done at the highest level.

RCB also has former India batsman Brijesh Patel of 21-Test and 10-ODI experience in their think-tank in the role of Head - Cricket Operations but hardly interferes in cricketing matters.

After all, it is not about getting into the basics of the players' skills but adding invaluable inputs during match situations when things get out of control. And certainly, when you have Gayle, Kohli, de Villiers in your line-up, you don't certainly need any other big name to talk to them about the nuances of batting. Do you?

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