KOLKATA: Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling coach Allan Donald has said in the absence of Mitchell Starc and Adam Milne, who both had a very fruitful World Cup, pacer Varun Aaron can play an important role in the pace attack for the team this IPL season.
"We need to be more attacking, extensively attacking. So Varun is part of that right through. And because injured bowlers on the bench are a huge problem, the support staff is monitoring the workloads of all bowlers," he said.
Australian Starc, the man of the series in the World Cup, is suffering from a minor knee injury and the doctors have advised him two-week rest, making him unavailable for the opening stages of the tournament.
Donald was also pinning hopes on Sean Abbott and David Wiese, saying they would give RCB balance.
"The presence of Sean Abbott, David Wiese gives us great balance. It's the first time we have guys of some real pace with speeds above 145 and 150kmph," said Donald.
"RCB has a battery of domestic pace bowlers as well. With the young Indian back-up, Varun and Sandeep Warrier, we have nice guys to pick and am happy I followed Warrier in domestic competition, Yuzvendra Chahal has done extremely well, Ashok Dinda always brings something new to the table. He is a street-scrapper," said the South African pace legend.
Meanwhile, Nic Maddinson, the young Australian talent, picked A B de Villiers over Chris Gayle as the most valuable RCB teammate.
"I think at the moment, de Villiers is the most valuable RCB teammate ... I think Gayle, when he comes off he is wonderful, but I think with AB, he saves you 20-30 runs in the field as well, so I think that adds to his overall package," Maddinson said on the official team website.
"De Villiers, in a few of those IPL games he scored 80 off 30 out of nowhere to get us home, and it was quite rare to see," he added.
Maddinson said he was looking forward to learn more from De Viliers, Gayle and captain Virat Kohli.
"Sharing the dressing room with the likes of De Villiers, Kohli and Gayle has added a lot to my experience and I am looking forward to learn more from these greats," he said.
